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The adjustment of financial ratios in the presence of soft budget constraints: evidence from Bulgaria

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  • Jozef Konings
  • Hylke Vandenbussche

Abstract

This paper is the first to study the behaviour of financial ratios in an emerging economy of Central Europe. Using the entire population of company accounts in Bulgaria we find that for the financial ratios we considered, adjustment towards a target takes place but the speed of adjustment is lower than that for Western companies reported in earlier studies. Also, we find the adjustment of financial ratios in Bulgaria to be far slower in firms characterized by soft budget constraints, a widespread phenomenon in Central Europe. However, the speed of adjustment of most financial ratios shows up as significantly higher after the Bulgarian financial crisis in 1997. Our results indicate that the partial adjustment model may not be the most appropriate model for an emerging economy like Bulgaria. Further research needs to clarify how expectations are formed and financial ratios move over time in transition countries such as Bulgaria.

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  • Jozef Konings & Hylke Vandenbussche, 2004. "The adjustment of financial ratios in the presence of soft budget constraints: evidence from Bulgaria," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 131-159.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:13:y:2004:i:1:p:131-159
    DOI: 10.1080/0963818032000102980
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Schaffer, Mark E., 1998. "Do Firms in Transition Economies Have Soft Budget Constraints? A Reconsideration of Concepts and Evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 80-103, March.
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    5. Kornai, Janos, 1992. "The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287766.
    6. Peles, Yoram C & Schneller, Meir I, 1989. "The Duration of the Adjustment Process of Financial Ratios," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(3), pages 527-532, August.
    7. Konings, Jozef & Rizov, Marian & Vandenbussche, Hylke, 2003. "Investment and financial constraints in transition economies: micro evidence from Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 253-258, February.
    8. Aydin Ozkan, 2001. "Determinants of Capital Structure and Adjustment to Long Run Target: Evidence From UK Company Panel Data," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1-2), pages 175-198.
    9. Bushman, Robert M. & Smith, Abbie J., 2001. "Financial accounting information and corporate governance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 237-333, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sandra Poncet & Walter Steingress & Hylke Vandenbussche, 2010. "Financial Constraints in China: the conditioning effect of FDI and State-Owned corporate sector," Post-Print hal-00633806, HAL.
    2. Rizov, Marian, 2008. "Corporate capital structure and how soft budget constraints may affect it," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22(4), pages 648-684.
    3. Ghosh, Debarati & Dutta, Meghna, 2022. "Environmental behaviour under credit constraints – Evidence from panel of Indian manufacturing firms," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 490-500.
    4. Poncet, Sandra & Steingress, Walter & Vandenbussche, Hylke, 2010. "Financial constraints in China: Firm-level evidence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 411-422, September.
    5. repec:lic:licosd:22608 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Nhu Tuyên Le & Marc de Bourmont & Olivier Vidal, 2011. "La perception des changements comptables par les acteurs : le cas du Viêt-Nam," Post-Print hal-02104096, HAL.
    7. Milos Markovic & Michael A. Stemmer, 2017. "Firm Growth Dynamics and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Serbian Firms," Post-Print halshs-01489222, HAL.
    8. Nhu Tuyên Le & Marc de Bourmont & Olivier Vidal, 2011. "La perception des changements comptables par les acteurs : le cas du Viêt-Nam," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-02104096, HAL.
    9. Nhu Tuyên Lê & Marc de Bourmont & Olivier Vidal, 2011. "La perception des changements comptables par les acteurs : le cas du Viêt-Nam," Post-Print hal-00650545, HAL.
    10. Nhu Tuyên Lê & Marc de Bourmont & Olivier Vidal, 2011. "La perception des changements comptables par les acteurs : le cas du Viêt-Nam," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00650545, HAL.
    11. Ralph de Haas & Marga Peeters, 2006. "The dynamic adjustment towards target capital structures of firms in transition economies," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 14(1), pages 133-169, March.
    12. Grantley Taylor & Greg Tower, 2011. "Determinants of Financial Ratio Disclosure Patterns of Australian Listed Extractive Companies," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 21(3), pages 302-314, September.

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