Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of economic development on the influence of country-level determinants on corporate debt maturity, bearing in mind firm size and the period of financial crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employ panel data estimation with fixed effects to examine the role of economic development in influencing the relationship between country-level determinants on corporate debt maturity. The paper uses a sample of 30,727 listed firms, belonging to 39 countries, over the period 2005–2012.
Findings
Corporate debt maturity increases with the efficiency of the legal system and bank concentration and decreases with the weight of banks in the economy. However, the importance of these country determinants is greater in developing than in developed countries. The authors also show that firm size in developed and developing countries influences country determinants of corporate debt maturity. Finally, the results reveal that the financial crisis has affected the debt maturity of firms differently in developed and developing countries, with the effect of bank concentration lengthening debt maturity, this effect being more pronounced in developing countries.
Practical implications
The findings provide useful insights to guide policy decisions providing access to long-term financing, as corporate debt maturity depends on economic development, institutional environment, banking structure and firm size.
Originality/value
This study incorporates economic development in explaining the relationship between country-level determinants and corporate debt maturity.
Firm size, corporate debt, R&D activity, and agency costs: Exploring dynamic and non-linear effects