This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Chen, H. Articles by Wu, O. Q. Search for Related Content

U.S. Retail and Wholesale Inventory Performance from 1981 to 2004

Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z2, Canada
Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
hong.chen{at}sauder.ubc.ca
murray.frank{at}csom.umn.edu
owenwu{at}bus.umich.edu

This paper examines the inventories of publicly traded U.S. retail and wholesale companies between 1981 and 2004. First, we document that inventory holdings have been reduced. The median of wholesale inventory holding periods was reduced from 73 days to 49 days. Retail inventory did not start to decline until about 1995. Second, we document that firms with abnormally high inventories have abnormally poor long-term stock returns. Third, we illustrate these effects for the cases of Wal-Mart, 7-Eleven (Japan), and some related firms.

Key Words: inventory; retail; wholesale; stock returns; empirical analysis
History: Received: April 15, 2005; accepted: August 8, 2006.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Rumyantsev and S. Netessine What Can Be Learned from Classical Inventory Models? A Cross-Industry Exploratory Investigation MSOM, January 1, 2007; 9(4): 409 - 429. [Abstract] [PDF]