IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i16p4474-d258750.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capital Structure across Italian Regions: The Role of Financial and Economic Differences

Author

Listed:
  • Filippo di Pietro

    (Departamento de Economía Financiera y Dirección de Operaciones, Universidad de Sevilla, 41018 Sevilla, Spain)

  • Maria Elena Bontempi

    (Department of Economics, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, 40125 Bologna, Italy)

  • María-José Palacín-Sánchez

    (Departamento de Economía Financiera y Dirección de Operaciones, Universidad de Sevilla, 41018 Sevilla, Spain)

  • Reyes Samaniego-Medina

    (Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Seville, Spain)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyse how regional financial and economic differences influence the capital structure decisions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Specifically, this paper considers the regional financial and economic differences in four ways: the development of the financial sector in the region, bank market concentration, the financial cost of obtaining funds, and regional economic development. For this purpose, we used unbalanced panel data from 26,504 SMEs across the 20 Italian regions and over the period from 2004 to 2010. This work is completed with an analysis of a no-crisis (2004–2007) and a crisis period (2008–2010). The results show that the regional differences in the degree of financial sector development, banking concentration, and local economic situations have a significant impact on the leverage level of SMEs, while the cost of obtaining funds is only relevant during a period of economic stability. These results suggest that insights can be derived from data disaggregation at the regional level inside the same country. These regional divergences in the capital structure of SMEs could influence regional economic resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Filippo di Pietro & Maria Elena Bontempi & María-José Palacín-Sánchez & Reyes Samaniego-Medina, 2019. "Capital Structure across Italian Regions: The Role of Financial and Economic Differences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:16:p:4474-:d:258750
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/16/4474/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/16/4474/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maria Elena Bontempi, 2002. "The dynamic specification of the modified pecking order theory: Its relevance to Italy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-22.
    2. Utrero-Gonzalez, Natalia, 2007. "Banking regulation, institutional framework and capital structure: International evidence from industry data," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 481-506, September.
    3. van der Wijst, Nico & Thurik, Roy, 1993. "Determinants of Small Firm Debt Ratios: An Analysis of Retail Panel Data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 55-65, March.
    4. Leland, Hayne E, 1994. "Corporate Debt Value, Bond Covenants, and Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1213-1252, September.
    5. 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.
    6. Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2003. "Do Better Institutions Mitigate Agency Problems? Evidence from Corporate Finance Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 185-212, March.
    7. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 1999. "Institutions, financial markets, and firm debt maturity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 295-336, December.
    8. 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.
    9. Nivorozhkin, Eugene, 2005. "Financing choices of firms in EU accession countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 138-169, June.
    10. Santiago Carbó-Valverde & Francisco Rodríguez-Fernández & Gregory F. Udell, 2009. "Bank Market Power and SME Financing Constraints," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 13(2), pages 309-340.
    11. 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.
    12. Cornelli, F. & Portes, R. & Schaffer, M., 1996. "The Capital Structure of Firms in Central and Eastern Europe," DELTA Working Papers 96-05, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure).
    13. Laurence Booth & Varouj Aivazian & Asli Demirguc‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2001. "Capital Structures in Developing Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 87-130, February.
    14. Coccorese, Paolo, 2008. "Bank competition and regional differences," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 13-16, October.
    15. Kremp, Elizabeth & Sevestre, Patrick, 2013. "Did the crisis induce credit rationing for French SMEs?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 3757-3772.
    16. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 1995. "The Effect of Credit Market Competition on Lending Relationships," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 407-443.
    17. Corvoisier, Sandrine & Gropp, Reint, 2002. "Bank concentration and retail interest rates," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(11), pages 2155-2189, November.
    18. Kirch, Guilherme & Terra, Paulo Renato Soares, 2012. "Determinants of corporate debt maturity in South America: Do institutional quality and financial development matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 980-993.
    19. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    20. 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.
    21. Coccorese, Paolo & Pellecchia, Alfonso, 2013. "Multimarket contact, competition and pricing in banking," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 187-214.
    22. 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.
    23. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2005. "Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 137-177, February.
    24. Nicholas Charron & Lewis Dijkstra & Victor Lapuente, 2014. "Regional Governance Matters: Quality of Government within European Union Member States," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 68-90, January.
    25. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2002. "Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2533-2570, December.
    26. Nengjiu Ju & Hui Ou-Yang, 2006. "Capital Structure, Debt Maturity, and Stochastic Interest Rates," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(5), pages 2469-2502, September.
    27. Chuang-Chang Chang & Jun-Biao Lin & Chun-Chieh Yang, 2015. "The effect of stochastic interest rates on a firm’s capital structure under a generalized model," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 695-719, November.
    28. 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.
    29. 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.
    30. María-José Palacín-Sánchez & Filippo di Pietro, 2016. "The Role of the Regional Financial Sector in the Capital Structure of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 1232-1247, July.
    31. Domenico Sarno, 2008. "Capital structure and growth of the firms in the backward regions of the south Italy," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(10), pages 821-833.
    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. David Yechiam Aharon & Yossi Yagil, 2019. "The Impact of Financial Leverage on Shareholders’ Systematic Risk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-23, November.
    2. Huseyin OZTURK & YASUDA Yukihiro, 2021. "We Are Alike: Capital Structure of Japanese SMEs Across Prefectures," Discussion papers 21092, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    3. Chang-Tai Lee & Jin-Li Hu & Ming-Hsin Kung, 2022. "Economic Resilience in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Across-Economy Comparison," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-25, April.
    4. Matías Mayor & Raul Ramos, 2020. "Regions and Economic Resilience: New Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-4, June.
    5. Olivier Butzbach & Domenico Sarno, 2019. "To What Extent Do Regional Effects Influence Firms’ Capital Structure? The Case of Southern Italian SMEs’," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20, January.

    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. MariaJosé Palacin-Sanchez & Filippo di Pietro, 2013. "Are Regional Institutional Factors Determinants Of The Capital Structure Of Smes?," ERSA conference papers ersa13p498, European Regional Science Association.
    2. 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.
    3. Mc Namara, Andrea & Murro, Pierluigi & O'Donohoe, Sheila, 2017. "Countries lending infrastructure and capital structure determination: The case of European SMEs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 122-138.
    4. María-José Palacín-Sánchez & Francisco-Javier Canto-Cuevas & Filippo di-Pietro, 2019. "Trade credit versus bank credit: a simultaneous analysis in European SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 1079-1096, December.
    5. Di Pietro, Filippo & Palacín Sánchez, María José & Roldán, José L., 2017. "Regional development and capital structure of SMEs," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).
    6. Rana El Bahsh & Ali Alattar & Aziz N. Yusuf, 2018. "Firm, Industry and Country Level Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from Jordan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 175-190.
    7. Martinez Cillero, Maria & Lawless, Martina & O'Toole, Conor, 2019. "The determinants of SME capital structure across the lifecycle," Papers WP614, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    8. Nicolas Griesshaber, 2017. "Towards a more comprehensive understanding of corporate leverage ratios," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Uses of central balance sheet data offices' information, volume 45, Bank for International Settlements.
    9. Casino-Martínez, Alejandro & López-Gracia, Jose & Mestre-Barberá, Reyes, 2023. "The regulatory environment and financial constraints of private firms in the European Union," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    10. Karin Jõeveer, 2013. "What do we know about the capital structure of small firms?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 479-501, August.
    11. Alves, Paulo & Francisco, Paulo, 2015. "The impact of institutional environment on the capital structure of firms during recent financial crises," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 129-146.
    12. Jõeveer, Karin, 2013. "Firm, country and macroeconomic determinants of capital structure: Evidence from transition economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 294-308.
    13. Matias, Fernanda & Serrasqueiro, Zélia, 2017. "Are there reliable determinant factors of capital structure decisions? Empirical study of SMEs in different regions of Portugal," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 19-33.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Zeitun, Rami & Temimi, Akram & Mimouni, Karim, 2017. "Do financial crises alter the dynamics of corporate capital structure? Evidence from GCC countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 21-33.
    17. Raja Zekri Ben Hamouda & Nessrine Hamzaoui & Faouzi Jilani, 2023. "Capital Structure Determinants: New Evidence from the MENA Region Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 144-163, January.
    18. Lindner, Thomas & Muellner, Jakob & Puck, Jonas, 2016. "Cost of Capital in an International Context: Institutional Distance, Quality, and Dynamics," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 234-248.
    19. Pindado, Julio & Requejo, Ignacio & Rivera, Juan C., 2017. "Economic forecast and corporate leverage choices: The role of the institutional environment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 121-144.
    20. Paulo, Alves, 2018. "Abnormal retained earnings around the world," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 63-74.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:16:p:4474-:d:258750. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.