IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/boj/bojwps/04-e-16.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Dynamic Capital Structure of Japanese Firms: How Far Has the Reduction of Excess Leverage Progressed in Japan?

Author

Listed:
  • Shinichi Nishioka

    (Bank of Japan)

  • Naohiko Baba

    (Bank of Japan)

Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamics of capital structure of Japanese firms since the early 1990s to shed light on how far the reduction of excess leverage has progressed so far in Japan. Our main findings are as follows. First, the trade-off theory provides an appropriate framework to assess this issue after controlling for various variables as proxies for other hypotheses including governance structure, the pecking order theory, and market timing hypothesis. Among such variables, profitability as a proxy for the pecking order theory has significant explanatory power. Second, governance structure significantly influences the speed at which firms adjust their leverage ratios toward optimal ones. In particular, the higher the shareholding ratio of overseas investors, the more quickly market-value leverage ratios adjust. Third, implied excess leverage ratios show a marked contrast between the firms in good credit standing and others. Reduction of excess leverage by highly-rated firms has substantially progressed so far, while others still have a long way to go.

Suggested Citation

  • Shinichi Nishioka & Naohiko Baba, 2004. "Dynamic Capital Structure of Japanese Firms: How Far Has the Reduction of Excess Leverage Progressed in Japan?," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 04-E-16, Bank of Japan.
    • Handle: RePEc:boj:bojwps:04-e-16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.boj.or.jp/en/research/wps_rev/wps_2004/data/wp04e16.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    2. Prowse, Stephen D., 1990. "Institutional investment patterns and corporate financial behavior in the United States and Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 43-66, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    5. Hansen, Lars Peter, 1982. "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Method of Moments Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(4), pages 1029-1054, July.
    6. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    7. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Merton, Robert C, 1974. "On the Pricing of Corporate Debt: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 449-470, May.
    9. Hirota, Shinichi, 1999. "Are Corporate Financing Decisions Different in Japan? An Empirical Study on Capital Structure," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 201-229, September.
    10. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    11. Banerjee, Saugata & Heshmati, Almas & Wihlborg, Clas, 1999. "The Dynamics of Capital Structure," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 333, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 21 Aug 2000.
    12. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    13. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July.
    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. Azhagaiah Ramachandran & Veeramuthu Packkirisamy, 2010. "The Impact of Firm Size on Dividend Behaviour: A Study With Reference to Corporate Firms across Industries in India," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 8(1), pages 049-078.
    2. Kunieda, Shigeki & 國枝, 繁樹 & Takahata, Junichiro & 高畑, 純一郎 & Yada, Haruna & 矢田, 晴那, 2011. "Japanese Firms’ Debt Policy And Tax Policy," Discussion Papers 2011-11, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    3. Fuchi, Hitoshi & Muto, Ichiro & Ugai, Hiroshi, 2005. "A Historical Evaluation of Financial Accelerator Effects in Japan's Economy," MPRA Paper 4648, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Voutsinas, Konstantinos & Werner, Richard A., 2011. "Credit supply and corporate capital structure: Evidence from Japan," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 320-334.

    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. Dobetz, Wolfgang & Grüninger, Matthias C., 2006. "Corporate cash holdings: Evidence from a different institutional setting," Working papers 2006/06, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    2. Biswajit Ghose & Kailash Chandra Kabra, 2020. "Does Growth Affect Firms’ Leverage Adjustment Speed? A Study of Indian Firms," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 139-155, July.
    3. Francisco Sogorb- Mira & José Lopez- Gracia, 2003. "Pecking Order Versus Trade-Off: An Empirical Approach To The Small And Medium Enterprise Capital Structure," Working Papers. Serie EC 2003-09, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    4. Biswajit Ghose & Kailash Chandra Kabra, 2019. "Capital Structure Dynamics and Financing Imbalance: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 5(2), pages 103-124, November.
    5. Hirota, Shinichi, 1999. "Are Corporate Financing Decisions Different in Japan? An Empirical Study on Capital Structure," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 201-229, September.
    6. Biswajit Ghose & Kailash Chandra Kabra, 2018. "Dynamic Capital Structure Adjustments and Business Group Affiliations: Indian Evidence," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 6(1), pages 27-41, January.
    7. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    8. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Pensa, Pascal & Wöhle, Claudia B., 2004. "Kapitalstrukturtheorie in Theorie und Praxis: Ergebnisse einer Fragebogenuntersuchung," Working papers 2004/09, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    9. Linnenluecke, Martina K. & Chen, Xiaoyan & Ling, Xin & Smith, Tom & Zhu, Yushu, 2017. "Research in finance: A review of influential publications and a research agenda," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 188-199.
    10. Todd Mitton, 2008. "Why Have Debt Ratios Increased for Firms in Emerging Markets?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 14(1), pages 127-151, January.
    11. Hyesung Kim & Almas Heshmati & Dany Aoun, 2006. "Dynamics of Capital Structure: The Case of Korean Listed Manufacturing Companies," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 275-302, September.
    12. Matthias Nnadi & Vachiraporn Surichamorn & Ranadeva Jayasekera & Yacine Belghitar, 2022. "Empirical analysis of debt maturity, cash holdings and firm investment in developing economies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3345-3372, July.
    13. Paulo, Alves, 2018. "Abnormal retained earnings around the world," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 63-74.
    14. Harvey, Campbell R. & Lins, Karl V. & Roper, Andrew H., 2004. "The effect of capital structure when expected agency costs are extreme," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 3-30, October.
    15. Mohamed, Hisham Hanifa & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla I., 2015. "Why do issuers issue Sukuk or conventional bond? Evidence from Malaysian listed firms using partial adjustment models," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 233-252.
    16. Canarella, Giorgio & Miller, Stephen M., 2022. "Firm size, corporate debt, R&D activity, and agency costs: Exploring dynamic and non-linear effects," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    17. Haushalter, David & Klasa, Sandy & Maxwell, William F., 2007. "The influence of product market dynamics on a firm's cash holdings and hedging behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 797-825, June.
    18. Im, Hyun Joong & Kang, Ya & Shon, Janghoon, 2020. "How does uncertainty influence target capital structure?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Ernest Ezeani & Frank Kwabi & Rami Salem & Muhammad Usman & Rateb Mohammad Hamad Alqatamin & Philip Kostov, 2023. "Corporate board and dynamics of capital structure: Evidence from UK, France and Germany," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 3281-3298, July.
    20. Joliet, Robert & Muller, Aline, 2013. "Capital structure effects of international expansion," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 375-393.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Capital Structure; Leverage; Trade-off Theory; Pecking Order; Corporate Governance; Market Timing; Panel Data; Dynamic GMM;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:boj:bojwps:04-e-16. 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: Bank of Japan (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bojgvjp.html .

    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.