IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/arp/tjssrr/2018p851-859.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quality of Information and the Moderating Effect of Board Size on SME Financial Structure: Malaysian Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Azhar Abdul Rahman

    (Universiti Utara Malaysia)

Abstract

This study examines whether the quality of financial statement information affects the financial structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore, it also make the first attempt to test the moderating effect of board size on the relationship between quality of information and leverage decision. Malaysian SMEs are used because there are important differences in the magnitude of disclosure requirements among them. A sample size of 100 SMEs has been considered to do the empirical evaluation. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was used to analyze the identified firm-specific variables that affect financial structure. In contrast with the traditional view that asymmetric or incomplete information restricts access to external funds, the results indicate that the quality of financial statement information is not significantly related to SME leverage. Board size does not exert any influence on the relationship between quality of information and leverage decision. However, leverage is negatively related to total assets and profitability.

Suggested Citation

  • Azhar Abdul Rahman, 2018. "Quality of Information and the Moderating Effect of Board Size on SME Financial Structure: Malaysian Evidence," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, pages 851-859:2.
    • Handle: RePEc:arp:tjssrr:2018:p:851-859
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.arpgweb.com/pdf-files/spi2.2.851.859.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.arpgweb.com/journal/7/special_issue/11-2018/2/4
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chirinko, Robert S. & Singha, Anuja R., 2000. "Testing static tradeoff against pecking order models of capital structure: a critical comment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 417-425, December.
    2. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2004. "Board characteristics, accounting report integrity, and the cost of debt," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 315-342, September.
    3. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    4. Kon, Y & Storey, D J, 2003. "A Theory of Discouraged Borrowers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 37-49, August.
    5. Christof Beuselinck & Marc Deloof & Sophie Manigart, 2008. "Private Equity Investments and Disclosure Policy," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 607-639.
    6. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    7. Chittenden, Francis & Hall, Graham & Hutchinson, Patrick, 1996. "Small Firm Growth, Access to Capital Markets and Financial Structure: Review of Issues and an Empirical Investigation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 59-67, February.
    8. Francisco Sogorb-Mira, 2005. "How SME Uniqueness Affects Capital Structure: Evidence From A 1994–1998 Spanish Data Panel," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 447-457, December.
    9. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    11. Joshua Abor & Nicholas Biekpe, 2005. "What Determines the Capital Structure of Listed Firms in Ghana?," The African Finance Journal, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 7(1), pages 37-48.
    12. Rebel A. Cole, 2013. "What Do We Know about the Capital Structure of Privately Held US Firms? Evidence from the Surveys of Small Business Finance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 42(4), pages 777-813, December.
    13. James S. Ang, 1992. "On the Theory of Finance for Privately Held Firms," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 1(3), pages 185-203, Spring.
    14. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    15. Frederick C. Scherr & Timothy F. Sugrue & Janice B. Ward, 1993. "Financing the Small Firm Start-Up: Determinants of Debt Use," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 3(1), pages 17-36, Fall.
    16. Tom Caneghem & Geert Campenhout, 2012. "Quantity and quality of information and SME financial structure," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 341-358, September.
    17. Diamond, Douglas W, 1989. "Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 828-862, August.
    18. Ciarán mac an Bhaird & Brian Lucey, 2010. "Determinants of capital structure in Irish SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 357-375, October.
    19. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    20. Nurul Syuhada Baharuddin & Zaleha Khamis & Wan Mansor Wan Mahmood & Hussian Dollah, 2011. "Determinants of Capital Structure for Listed Construction Companies in Malaysia," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 1(2), pages 1-6.
    21. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    22. Joshua Abor & Nicholas Biekpe, 2009. "How do we explain the capital structure of SMEs in sub‐Saharan Africa?," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(1), pages 83-97, January.
    23. Berger, Allen N. & Udell, Gregory F., 1990. "Collateral, loan quality and bank risk," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 21-42, January.
    24. Godfred A. Bokpin & Anastacia C. Arko, 2009. "Ownership structure, corporate governance and capital structure decisions of firms," Studies in Economics and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(4), pages 246-256, October.
    25. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Berger, Philip G & Ofek, Eli & Yermack, David L, 1997. "Managerial Entrenchment and Capital Structure Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1411-1438, September.
    27. Anthony Kyereboah‐coleman & Nicholas Biekpe, 2006. "Corporate Governance And Financing Choices Of Firms: A Panel Data Analysis," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 74(4), pages 670-681, December.
    28. Maria Psillaki & Nikolaos Daskalakis, 2009. "Are the determinants of capital structure country or firm specific?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 319-333, October.
    29. Eugene F. Fama, 2002. "Testing Trade-Off and Pecking Order Predictions About Dividends and Debt," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, March.
    30. Renee B. Adams & Hamid Mehran, 2003. "Is corporate governance different for bank holding companies?," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 9(Apr), pages 123-142.
    31. Deesomsak, Rataporn & Paudyal, Krishna & Pescetto, Gioia, 2004. "The determinants of capital structure: evidence from the Asia Pacific region," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(4-5), pages 387-405.
    32. Dries Heyman & Marc Deloof & Hubert Ooghe, 2008. "The Financial Structure of Private Held Belgian Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 301-313, March.
    33. Michaelas, Nicos & Chittenden, Francis & Poutziouris, Panikkos, 1999. "Financial Policy and Capital Structure Choice in U.K. SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Company Panel Data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 113-130, March.
    34. James S. Ang, 1991. "Small Business Uniqueness and the Theory of Financial Management," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, Spring.
    35. Kraus, Alan & Litzenberger, Robert H, 1973. "A State-Preference Model of Optimal Financial Leverage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 28(4), pages 911-922, September.
    36. Seifert, Bruce & Gonenc, Halit, 2008. "The international evidence on the pecking order hypothesis," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 244-260, July.
    37. Stewart C. Myers, 2001. "Capital Structure," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 81-102, Spring.
    38. Daniel Kipkirong Tarus & Federico Aime, 2014. "Board demographic diversity, firm performance and strategic change," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(12), pages 1110-1136, November.
    39. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tom Caneghem & Geert Campenhout, 2012. "Quantity and quality of information and SME financial structure," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 341-358, September.
    2. Van Campenhout, Geert & Van Caneghem, Tom, 2009. "Information Availability, Information Quality and the Financial Structure of Belgian SME's," Working Papers 2009/27, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    3. James Agyei & Shaorong Sun & Eugene Abrokwah, 2020. "Trade-Off Theory Versus Pecking Order Theory: Ghanaian Evidence," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    4. Geert Campenhout & Tom Caneghem, 2013. "How did the notional interest deduction affect Belgian SMEs’ capital structure?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 351-373, February.
    5. Alessandra Amendola & Marinella Boccia & Gianluca Mele & Luca Sensini, 2020. "Tax Policy and Firms' Financial Choices: Empirical Evidence from the Dominican Republic," MIC 2020: The 20th Management International Conference,, University of Primorska Press.
    6. Ciarán mac an Bhaird & Brian Lucey, 2010. "Determinants of capital structure in Irish SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 357-375, October.
    7. María Palacín-Sánchez & Luis Ramírez-Herrera & Filippo di Pietro, 2013. "Capital structure of SMEs in Spanish regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 503-519, August.
    8. Sardo, Filipe & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Armada, Manuel Rocha, 2022. "The importance of owner loans for rebalancing the capital structure of small knowledge-intensive service firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Mário Santos & António Moreira & Elisabete Vieira, 2014. "Ownership concentration, contestability, family firms, and capital structure," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(4), pages 1063-1107, November.
    10. David K. Chalmers & Marco Della Porta & Luca Sensini, 2020. "Export Intensity and Leverage: An Empirical Analysis of Spanish SMEs," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 382-386.
    11. Miguel Acedo-Ramírez & Juan Ayala-Calvo & José Rodríguez-Osés, 2013. "Capital structure of small companies in the Spanish footwear sector: relevant factors," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 155-173, June.
    12. Mateev, Miroslav & Poutziouris, Panikkos & Ivanov, Konstantin, 2013. "On the determinants of SME capital structure in Central and Eastern Europe: A dynamic panel analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 28-51.
    13. Hans Degryse & Peter Goeij & Peter Kappert, 2012. "The impact of firm and industry characteristics on small firms’ capital structure," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 431-447, May.
    14. Stavros H. Arvanitis & Irakleia S. Tzigkounaki & Theodoros V. Stamatopoulos & Eleftherios I. Thalassinos, 2012. "Dynamic Approach of Capital Structure of European Shipping Companies," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 5(3), pages 33-63, December.
    15. Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2017. "Determinants of capital structure in emerging markets: Evidence from Vietnam," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 105-113.
    16. Yarong Chen & Luca Sensini & Maria Vazquez, 2021. "Determinants of Leverage in Emerging Markets: Empirical Evidence," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 40-46.
    17. Mac an Bhaird, Ciarán & Lucey, Brian, 2010. "An empirical investigation of the financial growth life cycle," MPRA Paper 61948, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Iván Arribas & Emili Tortosa-Ausina & TingTing Zhu, 2021. "Optimal capital structure, model uncertainty, and European SMEs," Working Papers 2021/11, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    19. Maurizio La Rocca & Tiziana La Rocca & Alfio Cariola, 2011. "Capital Structure Decisions During a Firm's Life Cycle," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 107-130, July.
    20. David K. Chalmers & Marco Della Porta & Luca Sensini, 2020. "Export Intensity and Leverage: An Empirical Analysis of Spanish SMEs," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 382-386.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arp:tjssrr:2018:p:851-859. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Managing Editor (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arpgweb.com/?ic=journal&journal=7&info=aims .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.