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Market timing and the debt-equity choice

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  • Elliott, William B.
  • Koëter-Kant, Johanna
  • Warr, Richard S.

Abstract

We test the market timing theory of capital structure using an earnings-based valuation model that allows us to separate equity mispricing from growth options and time-varying adverse selection; thus avoiding the multiple interpretations of book-to-market ratio. We find that equity market mispricing plays a significant, if not dominant, role in the security choice decision. Our results are robust to the inclusion of proxies for time-varying growth options and alternate methods of measuring misvaluation.

Suggested Citation

  • Elliott, William B. & Koëter-Kant, Johanna & Warr, Richard S., 2008. "Market timing and the debt-equity choice," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 175-197, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinin:v:17:y:2008:i:2:p:175-197
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    7. Elliott, William B. & Prevost, Andrew K. & Rao, Ramesh P., 2009. "The announcement impact of seasoned equity offerings on bondholder wealth," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1472-1480, August.
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    9. Thomas J. O'Brien & Linda Schmid Klein & James I. Hilliard, 2007. "Capital Structure Swaps and Shareholder Wealth," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 13(5), pages 979-997, November.
    10. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2012. "Market timing, taxes and capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," OSF Preprints t3mvs, Center for Open Science.
    11. Iqbal Hussain, Hafezali & Mohd Farid, Shamsudin & Noor H, Jabarullah, 2016. "Non Linear Speed of Adjustment to Lead Leverage Levels and the Timing Element in Equity Issues: Empirical Evidence from the UK," MPRA Paper 79261, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    13. Wadhwa, Kavita & Nagi Reddy, V. & Goyal, Abhinav & Mohamed, Abdulkadir, 2016. "IPOs and SEOs, real investments, and market timing: Emerging market evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 21-41.
    14. Elliott, William B. & Koeter-Kant, Johanna & Warr, Richard S., 2007. "A valuation-based test of market timing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 112-128, March.
    15. Sakshi Khanna & Amit Srivastava & Yajulu Medury, 2015. "The Effect of Macroeconomic Variables on the Capital Structure Decisions of Indian Firms: A Vector Error Correction Model/Vector Autoregressive Approach," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(4), pages 968-978.
    16. Bonaimé, Alice Adams & Öztekin, Özde & Warr, Richard S., 2014. "Capital structure, equity mispricing, and stock repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 182-200.
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    18. Halil Dincer Kaya, 2017. "The Borrower Characteristics In Hot Equity Markets," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 3, pages 36-43, June.
    19. Patrice Fontaine & Sujiao Zhao, 2021. "Suppliers as financial intermediaries: Trade credit for undervalued firms," Post-Print hal-03507994, HAL.
    20. Mohammed Benlemlih & Jingwen Ge & Sujiao Zhao, 2021. "Undervaluation and non‐financial information: Evidence from voluntary disclosure of CSR news," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5-6), pages 785-814, May.
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