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Rising corporate debt and value relevance of supply-side factors in South Africa

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  • Machokoto, Michael
  • Areneke, Geofry
  • Ibrahim, Boulis Maher

Abstract

Motivated by the recent discovery of a significant increase in corporate debt in developed countries, we use a large sample of 775 listed companies to examine the dynamics and determinants of South African corporate debt. We find an 89% increase in the leverage of the average firm, from 11% in 1990 to 21% in 2015. Long-term and short-term debt increased by 103% and 67%, respectively. We find that this increase is pervasive, and cannot be explained entirely by either firm attributes or macroeconomic factors, despite the importance of the latter. Instead, we find supply-side factors to be the main determinants of the upward trend in corporate debt, highlighting their importance to corporate debt policies in emerging economies.

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  • Machokoto, Michael & Areneke, Geofry & Ibrahim, Boulis Maher, 2020. "Rising corporate debt and value relevance of supply-side factors in South Africa," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 26-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:109:y:2020:i:c:p:26-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.11.039
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    Cited by:

    1. Machokoto, Michael & Chipeta, Chimwemwe & Aftab, Nadeem & Areneke, Geofry, 2021. "The financial conservatism of firms in emerging economies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Michael Machokoto & Daniel Gyimah & Boulis Maher Ibrahim, 2022. "The evolution of trade credit: new evidence from developed versus developing countries," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 857-912, October.
    3. Paseda, Oluseun & Obademi, Olalekan, 2020. "Macroeconomic variables and their effects on the capital structure of quoted Nigerian firms," MPRA Paper 117060, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 Jan 2020.
    4. Machokoto, Michael & Bayai, Innocent & Kadzima, Marvelous, 2023. "The nonlinear impact of debt on employment: Does institutional quality matter?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. McWalter, Thomas A. & Ritchken, Peter H., 2022. "Black economic empowerment regulation and risk incentives," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    6. Caglayan, Mustafa & Machokoto, Michael, 2024. "The sensitivity of investment to internal and external funds: New emerging market evidence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    7. Michael Machokoto & Geofry Areneke & Davis Nyangara, 2021. "Financial conservatism, firm value and international business risk: Evidence from emerging economies around the global financial crisis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4590-4608, July.
    8. Machokoto, Michael & Mahonye, Nyasha & Makate, Marshall, 2022. "Short-term financing sources in Africa: Substitutes or complements?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    9. Geofry Areneke & Abongeh A. Tunyi, 2022. "Chairperson and CEO foreignness and CG quality of emerging markets MNCs: Moderating role of international board interlocks," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3071-3092, July.
    10. Kodongo, Odongo & Mukoki, Paul & Ojah, Kalu, 2023. "Bond market development and infrastructure-gap reduction: The case of Sub-saharan Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

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