M.A. Thesis:

Financial، economic performance and general and official Expenses stickiness

Examination of the relationship between cost stickiness and financial and economic performance Understanding the cost behavior in response to changes in the level of production and sales for corporate management is very important. A new theory of cost behavior suggests that the percentage of increase in costs by increasing the volume of activity is more than the percentage of cost reduction as a result of a decrease in the same volume of activity. This type of cost behavior is known as cost stickiness. Cost stickiness is one of the characteristics of cost behavior toward changes in the level of activity, and indicates that the magnitude of increase in costs is at the time of increasing level of activity is greater than the reduction in costs at the time of decrease in the level of activity . Many individuals and groups, including managers, owners, potential and actual investors, creditors and lenders, are trying to identify, assess, and select a type of investment that has the best economic and financial returns. Hence, evaluating the performance of economic units for making wise decisions and determining the extent to which the goals are achieved, are of great importance. Continuous performance evaluation helps senior managers to make the right decisions about future allocations. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of financial performance and economic performance on general and administrative costs. The time period for collecting data is from 2011 to 2015 which is a 5-year period. The results of testing the research hypotheses which used 390 years-company data show that asset returns have a significant negative relationship with cost stickiness, while stock returns, return on equity, economic value added and market value added do not have a significant relationship with cost stickiness.

Keywords: Cost Stickiness, Stock Returns, Asset Return, Return on Equity, Economic Value Added, Market Value A