Aboriginal Co-operatives in Canada - Centre for the Study of Co ...

“overcapitalization” by Aboriginal co-ops could be explained by the fact that Aboriginal co-opshave less access to debt 18 and are forced to use equity as a substitute for debt.4.4.4 Liquidity PositionCurrent assets are generallydefined as the assets of a firmwhich are expected to beconverted into cash withinone year.Amount ($)90,000,00080,000,00070,000,00060,000,00050,000,00040,000,00067,528,09651,845,858Figure 4.14 Liquidity Position ofAboriginal Co-ops80,774,37247,824,85674,617,02148,799,55382,629,87850,083,57381,026,86151,212,087Liquidity provides a measureof the ability of anorganization to meet itscurrent (short-term)obligations. The current ratiois a good example of a30,000,00020,000,00010,000,00001993 1994 1995 1996 1997YearsTotal Current Assets Total Current Liabilitiesliquidity measure and is calculated as the ratio between the values of current assets to currentliabilities. A current ratio that is between one and two is considered “normal”. A high ratio(more than two) would suggest that management is too risk averse and is probably lacking somegood opportunities to make higher profits. Conversely, a low ratio (one or less) suggestsmanagement is taking too many risks, and in a case of a liquidity crisis, the company could notprobably face it.According to the literature, there is no consensus as to whether co-ops are more or less risk averse(in the short-run) than other firms. Parliament, Fulton and Lerman (1989) suggest that moralhazard problems can induce co-ops to undertake more risk than other firms. On the contrary,Staatz (1987) notes that farmer co-ops are particularly more risk averse than other firms becausefarmers invest a large amount of their output in the co-op. According to this reasoning, the morecommitment to the co-op, the more control over management, thereby inducing management toavoid taking risks. As extracted from Figure 4.14, the liquidity ratio ranges between 1.30 (in18 According to Caldwell and Hunt (1998), 44% of Aboriginal businesses have inadequate access to debtfinancing. The reasons cited include the lack of collateral (section 89 of the Indian Act) and not having afinancial institution in the community. We expect Aboriginal co-ops to face the same financing constraintsas Aboriginal businesses in general, even though they might have access to the financial help from theirfederations. But more data are needed to evaluate the financial need of co-ops that seek help from theirfederations.95