Cash flow estimation practices in Mediterranean countries

Abstract

Purpose – To examine, determine, investigate and compare the extent to which enterprises in Greece and Cyprus use the theoretical framework to evaluate investments which are the discouraging factors concerning the use of this framework with particular emphasis to investigate the type, size and percentage of total capital expenditures detailed cash flow estimates; cash flow estimation practices and forecasting errors experience in the businesses in Greece and Cyprus. Design/methodology/approach – The investigation was conducted by the distribution of a questionnaire to adequate number of small sized companies of Greece and Cyprus. The study was based on a questionnaire that was promoted to 800 firms in Greece and 120 in Cyprus. Findings – The results of our survey have indicated the perceived important of some financial, marketing, and production factors on the cash flow forecasting process, as borrowing and repayment of funds, sales forecast, and operating expenses. The results of our study have indicated that the majority of forecasting methods used to generate cash flow estimates is management's subjective estimates and that the majority of the Greek firms adjust capital expenditure cash flow for inflation. Practical implications – This study could potentially stimulate further research on cash flow forecasting practices of firms in other countries, such as Italy, France, and other Mediterranean countries, in order to compare the results. Originality/value – This study provides evidence on the forecasting practices of small and medium-sized companies of Mediterranean companies.

Spatially-Decomposed Free Energy of Solvation Based on the Endpoint Density-Functional Method

“…26 and 28, that are formulated by adopting the energy as a proxy for the orientation and are numerically easier to handle. As noted in INTRODUCTION, the spatially resolved energetics of water is considered to be useful for ligand design, [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]31,32,43 and the present work employed the DFT in the mixed representation of position and energy to elucidate which region of solvent (water) leads to stabilization or destabilization of the solute. It is thus expected that the spatialdecomposition extension of the energy-representation formalism can be a basis for addressing the role of water toward modification of ligand affinities.…”

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The spatially resolved energetics receives much attention recently in connection to ligand design for proteins. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] The inhomogeneous solvation theory sets a basis for investigating the energy and entropy of water molecules at the biomolecular surface, and a practical strategy has been proposed to identify the locations of water that are to be displaced by ligands possibly with improved affinities. The empirical scheme based on the accessible surface area and the method of 3D-RISM (three-dimensional reference interaction site model) can also be viewed as ones with spatial (regional) decomposition.…”

Factors affecting biasing of capital budgeting cash flow forecasts: evidence from the hotel industry

“…In a study of small-and medium-sized Mediterranean-based companies, Lazaridis (2006) found detailed cash flow estimates to be required for almost all types of investment and a large proportion of his sample adopted standardised procedures for estimating items such as taxes, depreciation, and salvage values. Of particular note, the majority of Greek firms surveyed were found to adjust CBCFFs in order to compensate for overoptimistic biasing.…”

“…Merchant 1985, Lukka 1988, Dunk 1993, Van der Stede 2000, Davila and Wouters 2005, one is struck by the scant attention directed to the potential for biasing cash flow projections in connection with capital budgeting. An extensive literature search has identified only four empirical studies that have expressly examined the issue (see Pruitt and Gitman 1987, Guilding 2003, Lazaridis 2006, Guilding and Lamminmaki 2007. None of these studies, however, sought to develop a framework concerning variables that might affect the extent of biasing of CBCFFs.…”

Computational Analysis of Energy Landscapes Reveals Dynamic Features That Contribute to Binding of Inhibitors to CFTR-Associated Ligand

“…We allowed side-chain χ angles to minimize continuously within ±9° of modal χ-angles but did not model backbone flexibility. Furthermore, we did not model explicit waters, instead relying on the EEF1 implicit solvation model 76 in OSPREY. As a result, our models likely underestimate entropy and overestimate internal energy.…”