Nonprofits and Pass-Throughs: Performance Comparison

This paper’s purpose is to compare nonprofits with pass-throughs in terms of valuation, leverage, and growth. To achieve this purpose, we use the Capital Structure Model. This model determines maximum firm valuation through incorporating real data (tax rates, credit spreads, and historical growth rates). Since this is the first study to offer our particular set results on valuation, leverage and growth, our findings are value-additive in terms of the comparative research on nonprofits and pass-throughs. The new and scientific value of our findings are further established by robust tests that modify values for key variables. Major findings include the following. Nonprofits have over a fifty percent valuation advantage over pass-throughs and achieve a four times greater increase in dollar value when going from nongrowth to growth. The latter accomplishments are attained with a smaller before-tax plowback ratio and less retained earnings. Such achievements occur because nonprofits are not taxed on earnings retained for growth. While nonprofits have somewhat greater optimal leverage ratios than pass-throughs, they gain a bit less in dollars added from debt unless growth rates increase as projected when tax rates are lowered. Nonprofits gain less percentage-wise from debt because their unlevered firm value is greater than pass-throughs.