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Does debt affect profitability? An empirical study of French trade sector

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  • Kebewar, Mazen

Abstract

This article aims to expand existing empirical knowledge on the impact of debt level on profitability of companies. We analyze a sample of an unbalanced panel of 2325 unlisted French companies of trade sector spanning over a period of 1999 to 2006. By using the generalized method of moments (GMM), we show that the debt affects negatively the profitability, not only linearly, but also, in a non-linear (concave) way. However, while analyzing according to different size classes (VSEs, SMEs and LEs); we find that the linear negative effect becomes larger and the non-linear effect is significant only in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).

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  • Kebewar, Mazen, 2013. "Does debt affect profitability? An empirical study of French trade sector," EconStor Preprints 73185, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:esprep:73185
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    1. Intan Shaferi & Sugeng Wahyudi & Wisnu Mawardi & Riskin Hidayat & Intan Puspitasari, 2020. "The Manufacture and Service Companies Differ Leverage Impact to Financial Performance," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(2), pages 281-286, April.
    2. Ilias Makris & Vasileios Giannopoulos & Efi Cheila, 2022. "Associating Company-Specific Characteristics with Ownership Structure and Performance: An Analysis of Publicly Listed Firms from Selected Countries in the Eurozone during the 2008 Financial Crisis and," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-13, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Debt; GMM; Panel data; Profitability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple 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
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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