IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v58y2019icp270-286.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What is the role of institutional investors in corporate capital structure decisions? A survey analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Brown, Stephen
  • Dutordoir, Marie
  • Veld, Chris
  • Veld-Merkoulova, Yulia

Abstract

We survey institutional investors about their role in capital structure decisions and views on capital structure theories. Over 82% of investors believe they influence corporate capital structure decisions, especially for smaller, younger, and more financially constrained firms. Unlike corporate managers, investors consider agency costs of free cash flow important drivers of capital structure. Investors' responses also support pecking order and market timing theories. Most investors find financial constraints important, with components of the Kaplan–Zingales and Whited–Wu indexes dominating other proxies. Overall, our findings suggest a first-order impact of investor preferences on capital structure decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Stephen & Dutordoir, Marie & Veld, Chris & Veld-Merkoulova, Yulia, 2019. "What is the role of institutional investors in corporate capital structure decisions? A survey analysis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 270-286.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:270-286
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2019.05.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119919301294
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2019.05.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Malcolm Baker & Jeremy C. Stein & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2003. "When Does the Market Matter? Stock Prices and the Investment of Equity-Dependent Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 969-1005.
    2. Dirk Brounen & Abe de Jong & Kees Koedijk, 2004. "Corporate Finance in Europe: Confronting Theory with Practice," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(4), Winter.
    3. Krasker, William S, 1986. "Stock Price Movements in Response to Stock Issues under Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(1), pages 93-105, March.
    4. Stein, Jeremy C, 1996. "Rational Capital Budgeting in an Irrational World," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(4), pages 429-455, October.
    5. Michael Faulkender & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2006. "Does the Source of Capital Affect Capital Structure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 45-79.
    6. JOSEPH A. McCAHERY & ZACHARIAS SAUTNER & LAURA T. STARKS, 2016. "Behind the Scenes: The Corporate Governance Preferences of Institutional Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(6), pages 2905-2932, December.
    7. Lamont, Owen & Polk, Christopher & Saa-Requejo, Jesus, 2001. "Financial Constraints and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 529-554.
    8. Abe de Jong & Eric Duca & Marie Dutordoir, 2013. "Do Convertible Bond Issuers Cater to Investor Demand?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 42(1), pages 41-78, March.
    9. de Jong, Abe & Kabir, Rezaul & Nguyen, Thuy Thu, 2008. "Capital structure around the world: The roles of firm- and country-specific determinants," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1954-1969, September.
    10. Brounen, Dirk & de Jong, Abe & Koedijk, Kees, 2006. "Capital structure policies in Europe: Survey evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1409-1442, May.
    11. Franck Bancel & Usha R. Mittoo, 2004. "Cross-Country Determinants of Capital Structure Choice: A Survey of European Firms," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(4), Winter.
    12. Alon Brav & Wei Jiang & Frank Partnoy & Randall Thomas, 2008. "Hedge Fund Activism, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1729-1775, August.
    13. Robert W Faff & Stephen Gray & Kelvin Jui Keng Tan, 2016. "A contemporary view of corporate finance theory, empirical evidence and practice," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(4), pages 662-686, November.
    14. Mark T. Leary & Michael R. Roberts, 2005. "Do Firms Rebalance Their Capital Structures?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2575-2619, December.
    15. Guercio, Diane Del & Hawkins, Jennifer, 1999. "The motivation and impact of pension fund activism," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 293-340, June.
    16. Malcolm Baker, 2009. "Capital Market-Driven Corporate Finance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 181-205, November.
    17. 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.
    18. Schmidt, Cornelius & Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2017. "Do exogenous changes in passive institutional ownership affect corporate governance and firm value?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 285-306.
    19. Abe de Jong & Patrick Verwijmeren, 2010. "To have a target debt ratio or not: what difference does it make?," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 219-226.
    20. Gompers, Paul & Kaplan, Steven N. & Mukharlyamov, Vladimir, 2016. "What do private equity firms say they do?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(3), pages 449-476.
    21. Gomes, Armando & Phillips, Gordon, 2012. "Why do public firms issue private and public securities?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 619-658.
    22. Kerry Pattenden, 2006. "Capital Structure Decisions Under Classical and Imputation Tax Systems: A Natural Test for Tax Effects in Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 31(1), pages 67-92, June.
    23. Grundy, Bruce D. & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2018. "The buyers’ perspective on security design: Hedge funds and convertible bond call provisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 77-93.
    24. Ming Dong & Igor Loncarski & Jenke ter Horst & Chris Veld, 2012. "What Drives Security Issuance Decisions: Market Timing, Pecking Order, or Both?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 41(3), pages 637-663, September.
    25. Hovakimian, Armen & Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 2001. "The Debt-Equity Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, March.
    26. 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.
    27. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2005. "Financing decisions: who issues stock?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 549-582, June.
    28. Toni M. Whited & Guojun Wu, 2006. "Financial Constraints Risk," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 531-559.
    29. Zhou, Qing & Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng & Faff, Robert & Zhu, Yushu, 2016. "Deviation from target capital structure, cost of equity and speed of adjustment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 99-120.
    30. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, René M., 2010. "Seasoned equity offerings, market timing, and the corporate lifecycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 275-295, March.
    31. Frank, Murray Z. & Goyal, Vidhan K., 2003. "Testing the pecking order theory of capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 217-248, February.
    32. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    33. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    34. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2012. "An International Comparison of Capital Structure and Debt Maturity Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 23-56, February.
    35. Lewis, Craig M. & Rogalski, Richard J. & Seward, James K., 2003. "Industry conditions, growth opportunities and market reactions to convertible debt financing decisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 153-181, January.
    36. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Gang Hu & Jiekun Huang, 2010. "The Role of Institutional Investors in Initial Public Offerings," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(12), pages 4496-4540, December.
    37. Lee, Cheng-Few & Lee, Kin-Wai & Yeo, Gillian Hian-Heng, 2009. "Investor protection and convertible debt design," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 985-995, June.
    38. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & He, Shan & Hu, Gang, 2009. "The role of institutional investors in seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 384-411, December.
    39. Mark T. Leary, 2009. "Bank Loan Supply, Lender Choice, and Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1143-1185, June.
    40. Jung, Kooyul & Yong-Cheol, Kim & Stulz, Rene M., 1996. "Timing, investment opportunities, managerial discretion, and the security issue decision," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 159-185, October.
    41. Bayless, Mark & Chaplinsky, Susan, 1991. "Expectations of security type and the information content of debt and equity offers," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 1(3), pages 195-214, June.
    42. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2002. "Market Timing and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 1-32, February.
    43. Darwin Choi & Mila Getmansky & Brian Henderson & Heather Tookes, 2010. "Convertible Bond Arbitrageurs as Suppliers of Capital," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(6), pages 2492-2522, June.
    44. Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro, 2008. "The colors of investors' money: The role of institutional investors around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 499-533, June.
    45. Miller, Merton H, 1977. "Debt and Taxes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 261-275, May.
    46. Brounen, D. & de Jong, A. & Koedijk, C.G., 2004. "Corporate Finance In Europe Confronting Theory With Practice," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-002-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    47. Appel, Ian R. & Gormley, Todd A. & Keim, Donald B., 2016. "Passive investors, not passive owners," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 111-141.
    48. Garry Twite, 2001. "Capital Structure Choices and Taxes: Evidence from the Australian Dividend Imputation Tax System," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 2(4), pages 217-234, December.
    49. Ivashina, Victoria & Sun, Zheng, 2011. "Institutional demand pressure and the cost of corporate loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 500-522, March.
    50. Lemmon, Michael & Roberts, Michael R., 2010. "The Response of Corporate Financing and Investment to Changes in the Supply of Credit," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 555-587, June.
    51. Shumi Akhtar, 2005. "The Determinants of Capital Structure for Australian Multinational and Domestic Corporations," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 30(2), pages 321-341, December.
    52. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. He, Xiaoxiao & Liu, Cai, 2023. "Monitoring attention of institutional investors and trade credit financing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    2. Garel, Alexandre & Petit-Romec, Arthur & Vennet, Rudi Vander, 2022. "Institutional Shareholders and Bank Capital," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    3. Sangiorgi, Ivan & Schopohl, Lisa, 2023. "Explaining green bond issuance using survey evidence: Beyond the greenium," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    4. Joachim Rojahn & Florian Zechser, 2022. "Ownership concentration, ownership identity and seasoned equity offerings probabilities: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1-2), pages 274-296, January.
    5. Theodora Bermpei & Antonios Nikolaos Kalyvas & Lorenzo Neri & Antonella Russo, 2022. "Does economic policy uncertainty matter for financial reporting quality? Evidence from the United States," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 795-845, February.
    6. Zeng, Huixiang & Ren, Lei & Chen, Xiaohong & Zhou, Qiong & Zhang, Tao & Cheng, Xu, 2024. "Punishment or deterrence? Environmental justice construction and corporate equity financing––Evidence from environmental courts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Hu, Gang & Wei, K.C. John, 2021. "The role of institutional investors in corporate and entrepreneurial finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Zongwu Cai & Meng Shi & Yue Zhao & Wuqing Wu, 2020. "Testing Financial Hierarchy Based on A PDQ-CRE Model," WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS 202011, University of Kansas, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2020.
    9. Albert Danso & Samuel Fosu & Samuel Owusu‐Agyei & Collins G. Ntim & Emmanuel Adegbite, 2021. "Capital structure revisited. Do crisis and competition matter in a Keiretsu corporate structure?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5073-5092, October.
    10. Du, Zhihui & Zheng, Xiaojia & Zhang, Chenye & Zhou, Rongxi, 2023. "Does the online interaction between retail investors and firm management affect capital structure?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    11. Dutordoir, Marie & Merkoulova, Yulia & Veld, Chris, 2022. "How do investors perceive convertible bond issuing decisions?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    12. Wang, Bin & Luo, Yan, 2024. "Institutional investors, heterogeneity, and capital structure decisions: Evidence from an emerging market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    13. Sharma, Aarti & Singhal, Ankit & Ramanna, Vishwanatha Saragur, 2024. "The effect of lead institutional investors on investment and capital structure of young firms: Evidence from Indian IPOs," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Dahlen, Niklas & Lahmann, Alexander & Schreiter, Maximilian, 2024. "Panacea for M&A dealmaking? Investor perceptions of earnouts," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    15. Tekalign Negash Kebede, 2024. "Firm-specific and country-level determinants of commercial banks capital structures: evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, December.

    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. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2012. "Market timing, taxes and capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," OSF Preprints t3mvs, Center for Open Science.
    2. Pinnuck, Matt & Shekhar, Chander, 2013. "The profit versus loss heuristic and firm financing decisions," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 420-439.
    3. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, René M., 2010. "Seasoned equity offerings, market timing, and the corporate lifecycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 275-295, March.
    4. Nagano, Mamoru, 2017. "Sukuk issuance and information asymmetry: Why do firms issue sukuk?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 142-157.
    5. Khawaja, Mohsin & Bhatti, M. Ishaq & Ashraf, Dawood, 2019. "Ownership and control in a double decision framework for raising capital," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    6. Hess, Dieter & Immenkötter, Philipp, 2014. "How much is too much? Debt capacity and financial flexibility," CFR Working Papers 14-03, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    7. Wu, Xueping & Au Yeung, Chau Kin, 2012. "Firm growth type and capital structure persistence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3427-3443.
    8. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Stulz, Rene, 2007. "Fundamentals, Market Timing, and Seasoned Equity Offerings," Working Paper Series 2007-13, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    9. Leary, Mark T. & Roberts, Michael R., 2010. "The pecking order, debt capacity, and information asymmetry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 332-355, March.
    10. Shoaib Ali & Attiya Yasmin Javid, 2015. "Relationship between Credit Rating, Capital Structure and Earning Management Behaviour: Evidence from Pakistani Listed Firms," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:121, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    11. Autore, Don M. & Kovacs, Tunde, 2010. "Equity issues and temporal variation in information asymmetry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 12-23, January.
    12. Duca, Eric & Dutordoir, Marie & Veld, Chris & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2012. "Why are convertible bond announcements associated with increasingly negative issuer stock returns? An arbitrage-based explanation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2884-2899.
    13. Nagano, Mamoru, 2018. "What promotes/prevents firm bond issuance in emerging economies: Bank–firm relationship or information asymmetry?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 161-177.
    14. Douglas (DJ) Fairhurst, 2020. "Financing seasonal demand," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(3), pages 839-870, September.
    15. Morais, Flávio & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S., 2020. "The zero-leverage phenomenon: A bivariate probit with partial observability approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    16. Mamoru Nagano, 2016. "Who issues Sukuk and when?: An analysis of the determinants of Islamic bond issuance," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(1), pages 45-55, November.
    17. İbrahim Yarba & Z. Nuray Güner, 2020. "Leverage dynamics: Do financial development and government leverage matter? Evidence from a major developing economy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 2473-2507, November.
    18. Patrice Fontaine & Sujiao Zhao, 2021. "Suppliers as financial intermediaries: Trade credit for undervalued firms," Post-Print hal-03507994, HAL.
    19. Bessler, Wolfgang & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Haller, Rebekka & Meier, Iwan, 2013. "The international zero-leverage phenomenon," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 196-221.
    20. Eric Molay, 2005. "La structure financière du capital:tests empiriques sur le marché français," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 8(4), pages 153-175, December.

    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:eee:corfin:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:270-286. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    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.