IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-01847918.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Firm-specific Determinants of Capital Structure – An Empirical Analysis of Firms before and during the Euro Crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Amir Moradi

    (HAN - Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen)

  • Elisabeth Paulet

    (ICN Business School, CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine)

Abstract

This paper intends to address the effects of firm-specific characteristics on the formation of capital structure amongst a balanced panel sample of 559 firms in six European countries before and during the period of 1999-2015. We find that growth, profitability, tax shields and the effects of the Euro Crisis are significantly negatively related to leverage plus debt-to-equity ratio and are significantly positively correlated with net equity. Additionally, we detect that size, asset tangibility, non-debt tax shields and earnings volatility are significantly positively correlated with leverage along with debt-to-equity ratio and have a significantly negatively relation with net equity. Our model tests the effectivity of trade-off, pecking order and agency cost theories of capital structure. Besides, we divide the full sample into three subsamples illustrating different industries of retail trade and services, manufacturing and construction plus transportation and tourism. We find that the transportation and tourism industry is more negatively impacted by the Euro Crisis than the other two industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Amir Moradi & Elisabeth Paulet, 2018. "The Firm-specific Determinants of Capital Structure – An Empirical Analysis of Firms before and during the Euro Crisis," Post-Print hal-01847918, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01847918
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2018.07.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hovakimian, Armen & Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 2001. "The Debt-Equity Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Bradley, Michael & Jarrell, Gregg A & Kim, E Han, 1984. "On the Existence of an Optimal Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 857-878, July.
    4. Michael S. Long & Ileen B. Malitz, 1985. "Investment Patterns and Financial Leverage," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Capital Structures in the United States, pages 325-352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Amir Moradi & Elisabeth Paulet, 2015. "A causal loop analysis of the austerity policy adopted to address the Euro crisis - effects and side effects," Post-Print hal-01371717, HAL.
    6. Graham C. Hall & Patrick J. Hutchinson & Nicos Michaelas, 2004. "Determinants of the Capital Structures of European SMEs," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5‐6), pages 711-728, June.
    7. Eugene F. Fama, 2002. "Testing Trade-Off and Pecking Order Predictions About Dividends and Debt," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, March.
    8. M. Ameziane Lasfer, 1995. "Agency costs, taxes and debt: The UK evidence," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 1(3), pages 265-285, November.
    9. Ferri, Michael G & Jones, Wesley H, 1979. "Determinants of Financial Structure: A New Methodological Approach," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 34(3), pages 631-644, June.
    10. Eamonn J. Walsh & James Ryan, 1997. "Agency and Tax Explanations of Security Issuance Decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7&8), pages 943-961.
    11. Loof, Hans, 2004. "Dynamic optimal capital structure and technical change," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 449-468, December.
    12. 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.
    13. Kim, Wi Saeng & Sorensen, Eric H., 1986. "Evidence on the Impact of the Agency Costs of Debt on Corporate Debt Policy," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 131-144, June.
    14. 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.
    15. Eamonn J. Walsh & James Ryan, 1997. "Agency and Tax Explanations of Security Issuance Decisions," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7‐8), pages 943-961, September.
    16. 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, January.
    17. Benjamin M. Friedman, 1985. "Corporate Capital Structures in the United States," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie85-1.
    18. 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.
    19. Yang, Chau-Chen & Lee, Cheng-few & Gu, Yan-Xiang & Lee, Yen-Wen, 2010. "Co-determination of capital structure and stock returns--A LISREL approach: An empirical test of Taiwan stock markets," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 222-233, May.
    20. 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.
    21. Graham C. Hall & Patrick J. Hutchinson & Nicos Michaelas, 2004. "Determinants of the Capital Structures of European SMEs," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5-6), pages 711-728.
    22. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:1:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Wolfgang Drobetz & Gabrielle Wanzenried, 2006. "What determines the speed of adjustment to the target capital structure?," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(13), pages 941-958.
    24. DeAngelo, Harry & Masulis, Ronald W., 1980. "Optimal capital structure under corporate and personal taxation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 3-29, March.
    25. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:2:p:271-81 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    27. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2002. "Market Timing and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 1-32, February.
    28. 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.
    29. Michael L. Lemmon & Michael R. Roberts & Jaime F. Zender, 2008. "Back to the Beginning: Persistence and the Cross‐Section of Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1575-1608, August.
    30. Andres, Christian & Cumming, Douglas & Karabiber, Timur & Schweizer, Denis, 2014. "Do markets anticipate capital structure decisions? — Feedback effects in equity liquidity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 133-156.
    31. Korajczyk, Robert A. & Levy, Amnon, 2003. "Capital structure choice: macroeconomic conditions and financial constraints," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 75-109, April.
    32. Sulagna Mukherjee & Jitendra Mahakud, 2010. "Dynamic adjustment towards target capital structure: evidence from Indian companies," Journal of Advances in Management Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(2), pages 250-266, October.
    33. Hovakimian, Armen & Hovakimian, Gayane & Tehranian, Hassan, 2004. "Determinants of target capital structure: The case of dual debt and equity issues," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 517-540, March.
    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. Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina & Diana Alexandra Toader, 2019. "Exploring the Determinants of Financial Structure in the Technology Industry: Panel Data Evidence from the New York Stock Exchange Listed Companies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Lee, Lillian & Chowdhury, Anup & Shubita, Moade, 2023. "Impact of Paris Agreement on financing strategy: Evidence from global FPSO industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Zhang, Dongyang, 2021. "Is export tax rebate a quality signal to determine firms’ capital structure? A financial intermediation perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. Vega-Gutierrez, Pedro Luis & López-Iturriaga, Félix J. & Rodriguez-Sanz, Juan Antonio, 2021. "Labour market conditions and the corporate financing decision: A European analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    5. Morais, Flávio & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S., 2020. "The zero-leverage phenomenon: A bivariate probit with partial observability approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    6. Abdullah, Hariem & Tursoy, Turgut, 2021. "Capital structure and firm performance: a panel causality test," MPRA Paper 105871, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Moncef Guizani, 2020. "Testing the pecking order theory of capital structure: the case of Islamic financing modes," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Madaleno Mara & Bărbuţă-Mişu Nicoleta, 2019. "The Financial Performance of European Companies: Explanatory Factors in the Context of Economic Crisis," Ekonomika (Economics), Sciendo, vol. 98(2), pages 6-18, December.
    9. Suleiman A. Badayi & Bolaji T. Matemilola & Bany‐Ariffin A.N & Lau Wei Theng, 2021. "Does corporate social responsibility influence firm probability of default?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 3377-3395, July.

    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. Mustafa Caglayan & Abdul Rashid, 2010. "The response of firms' leverage to uncertainty: Evidence from UK public versus non-public firms," Working Papers 2010019, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2010.
    2. Mustafa Caglayan & Abdul Rashid, 2014. "The Response Of Firms' Leverage To Risk: Evidence From Uk Public Versus Nonpublic Manufacturing Firms," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(1), pages 341-363, January.
    3. Viet Anh Dang, 2005. "Testing the Trade-off and Pecking Order Theory: Some UK Evidence," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2005 28, Money Macro and Finance Research Group.
    4. 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.
    5. Antonczyk, Ron Christian & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2014. "Overconfidence and optimism: The effect of national culture on capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    6. ElBannan, Mona A., 2017. "Stock market liquidity, family ownership, and capital structure choices in an emerging country," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 201-231.
    7. G. Oka Warmana & I. Ketut Rahyuda & Ida Bagus Anom Purbawangsa & Ni Luh Gede Sri Artini, 2020. "Investigating Capital Structure Speed of Adjustment (SOA) of Indonesian Companies for Corporate Value," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 21(3), pages 215-231, September.
    8. Yildirim, Ramazan & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla Ismath, 2018. "Determinants of capital structure: evidence from Shari'ah compliant and non-compliant firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 198-219.
    9. Berk YILDIZ, 2024. "Validity of Capital Structure Theories in the Shipping Industry: An Application on U.S. Equity Markets," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 32(60).
    10. Iván Arribas & Emili Tortosa-Ausina & TingTing Zhu, 2021. "Optimal capital structure, model uncertainty, and European SMEs," Working Papers 2021/11, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    11. 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.
    12. Vivien Beattie & Alan Goodacre & Sarah Jane Thomson, 2006. "Corporate Financing Decisions: UK Survey Evidence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9‐10), pages 1402-1434, November.
    13. Bontempi, Maria Elena & Bottazzi, Laura & Golinelli, Roberto, 2020. "A multilevel index of heterogeneous short-term and long-term debt dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    14. Hanifa, Mohamed Hisham & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla, 2014. "Testing Sukuk And Conventional Bond Offers Based On Corporate Financing Theories Using Partial Adjustment Models: Evidence From Malaysian Listed Firms," MPRA Paper 56953, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Lee, Lillian & Chowdhury, Anup & Shubita, Moade, 2023. "Impact of Paris Agreement on financing strategy: Evidence from global FPSO industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    16. Ahmed Sakr & Amina Bedeir, 2019. "Firm Level Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence From Egypt," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(1), pages 68-85, January.
    17. Christopher F. Baum & Mustafa Caglayan & Abdul Rashid, 2017. "Capital structure adjustments: Do macroeconomic and business risks matter?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 1463-1502, December.
    18. Pinto, João M. & Silva, Cátia S., 2021. "Does export intensity affect corporate leverage? Evidence from Portuguese SMEs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    19. 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.
    20. Li, Larry & Islam, Silvia Z., 2019. "Firm and industry specific determinants of capital structure: Evidence from the Australian market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 425-437.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    the fixed effects model; Capital structure; firm-specific determinants; the Euro Crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services
    • L9 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities
    • M2 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics

    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:hal:journl:hal-01847918. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.