scholarly journals Dynamic Capital Structure Adjustment and the Impact of Fractional Dependent Variables

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1105-1133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf Elsas ◽  
David Florysiak

AbstractResearchers in empirical corporate finance often use bounded ratios (e.g., debt ratios) as dependent variables in their regressions. Using the example of estimating the speed of adjustment toward target leverage, we show by Monte Carlo and resampling experiments that commonly applied estimators yield severely biased estimates, as they ignore that debt ratios are fractional (i.e., bounded between 0 and 1). We propose a new unbiased estimator for adjustment speed in the presence of fractional dependent variables that also controls for unobserved heterogeneity and unbalanced panel data. This new estimator is suitable for corporate finance applications beyond capital structure research.

Author(s):  
Norfhadzilahwati Rahim ◽  
Fauzias Mat Nor ◽  
Nurainna Ramli ◽  
Ainulashikin Marzuki

This study investigates two main objectives. Firstly, the determinants of capital structure were examined for each sector among Malaysian Shariah-compliant firms, and whether the inclusion of Islamic debt (leverage 1 and leverage 2) has led to different results due to changes in the screening methodology. Secondly, this paper analyzes the target Capital Structure and Speed of Adjustment for both before and after the Revised Screening Methodology. This study employs panel data analysis by using generalized method of moment (GMM). The sample consists of 192 Shariah-compliant companies in Malaysia during the period of 1999 to 2017. The results demonstrated that the firm has target capital structure and identified specific determinants that have affected the capital structure of Shariah-compliant firms in Malaysia. Moreover, the findings have also revealed certain implications toward large firms. Large firms tend to generate more income and profit, however at the same time, these firms require more debt to support investment activities. Hence, with regards to profitability, this study identified a negative relationship between profitability and leverage for Shariah-compliant firms for all sectors. Shariah-compliant firms with high profitability will use a lower leverage in their financial activities. Thus, the results strongly support the pecking order theory. Other than that, this study found that the lagged dependent variable (lagged leverage 1 and leverage 2) presented a positive significance, and concluded that the speed of adjustment takes approximately 2 years. This suggests that the Shariah-compliant firms close approximately by 30% to 70% of the gap between current and target capital structure within one and two years. Furthermore, the findings on the target leverage level imply that after the revised screening methodology was introduced in November 2013, the speed of adjustment became faster than before the implementation of the new screening methodology. Thus, it is important for management to maintain the target leverage during financial decision making, which in turn strengthens the firm’s Shariah-compliant financial stability and sustainability, and continue to remain listed as Shariah-compliant securities. This paper provides an overview of capital structure behaviour in Malaysia.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (01) ◽  
pp. 2150002
Author(s):  
Jifeng Cao ◽  
Yiwen Cui

This paper examines the impact of trade credit on the speed of capital structure adjustment toward target leverage using an integrated dynamic partial adjustment model. Trade credit is an important substitute for debt financing and gives firms a low-cost means of adjusting leverage toward the target capital structure in China. We measure trade credit by accounts payable. Using the public listed company data from 1998 to 2016, we find that trade credit accelerates capital structure adjustment. The asymmetric impacts on the capital structure adjustment speed in different situations are also evidenced. The positive impact of trade credit on the speed of capital structure adjustment is more pronounced for over-levered firms. The trade credit also accelerates the speed of capital structure adjustment more quickly for high market share firms. Our results imply that firms use trade credit to save cash flow and restore the leverage level to the target capital structure in China.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bashar K. Abu Khalaf

The different capital structure theories propose the possible asymmetric behavior of capital structure. Thus, this paper empirically investigates whether non-financial Jordanian firms follow symmetrical or asymmetrical adjustment model. Then, an interaction model with the size and profitability (firm characteristics) investigated the impact of low/high profit and small/large size on the adjustment of leverage towards the target leverage ratio. This paper covered the period of 14 years (2002-2015) for a total of 110 companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange (75 industrial and 35 services). Results indicate that although Jordanian firms seek a target leverage ratio, their adjustment towards that target is Asymmetrical and high profitable and large companies tend to adjust faster than low profitable and small size companies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (03) ◽  
pp. 1650019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surenderrao Komera ◽  
P. J. Jijo Lukose

In this paper, we examine firms' capital structure adjustment behavior and estimate their “speed of adjustment” toward optimal leverage ratios by employing a dynamic, partial adjustment model. We find that sample firms on an average offset half of the deviation from their target leverage ratios in less than one and half (1.41) years. Such evidence suggests optimal capital structure behavior among sample firms. Further, we report cross sectional heterogeneity and asymmetry in speed of adjustment estimates, resulting from varied leverage adjustment costs across the sample firms. We find higher speed of adjustment estimates among larger sample firms suggesting higher leverage adjustment costs for smaller firms. Business group affiliation does not seem to influence the costs of sample firms' leverage adjustment. Over-levered firms report higher speed of adjustment estimates, suggesting that sample firms do not consider debt financing as a “disciplining mechanism” for managers. Further, we find lower speed of adjustment estimates for sample firms with higher cash flow, implying that Indian markets do not actively accommodate firms' cash flow needs. Thus, our findings reveal complex asymmetric information problems and consequent varied leverage adjustment costs among emerging market firms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4, Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 377-390
Author(s):  
Shab Hundal ◽  
Anne Eskola

Firms’ financing, boards of directors’ characteristics, investments, and firm-performance (financial and non-financial) occupy a pivotal place in corporate finance and corporate governance literature. The current study explores if causalities between the abovementioned four distinct albeit inter-related phenomena follow any pattern. The data comprising of 1240 firm-years belonging to Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark for the period of 2003 to 2018 have been analyzed by applying multivariate linear regression and principal component analysis. The findings show that the impact of boards of directors’ characteristics is stronger on capital structure, however, weaker on investments and financial performance. The major contribution of the article is creating a set orderly and sequential causalities between financing, boards of directors’ characteristics, investments, and firm-performance.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anila Çekrezi

This paper attempts to explore the impact of firm specific factors on capital structuredecision for a sample of 65 non- listed firms, which operate in Albania, over the period2008-2011.In this paper are used three capital structure measures ; short –term debt tototal assets (STDA), long- term debt to total assets (LTDA) and total debt to total assets(TDTA) as dependent variables and four dependent variables: tangibility(TANG),liquidity (LIQ), profitability(ROA=return on assets) and size (SIZE). The investigationuses panel data procedure and the data are taken from balance sheets and include onlyaccounting measures on the firm’s leverage. This study found that tangibility (the ratio offixed assets to total assets), liquidity (the ratio of current assets to current liabilities)profitability (the ratio of earnings after taxes to total assets) and size (natural logarithm oftotal assets) have a significant impact on leverage. Also empirical evidence reveals asignificant negative relation of ROA to leverage and a significant positive relation ofSIZE to leverage. And the second objective of this study is to identify the impact ofindustry classification on firm’s leverage, using a dummy variable for the trade sector. Soone of the hypothesis tested is if financial leverage is independent of industryclassification. Results reveal that long term debt to total assets and total debt to totalassets ratios are significantly different across Albanian industries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Yasir Maulana ◽  
Ayus Ahmad Yusuf

This paper aims to determine the effect of company characteristics on target leverage with the relation of the speed of adjustment to target leverage. The speed of adjustment is examined to complete the analysis of the concept of dynamic capital structure in Indonesia. The characteristics of the companies studied are profitability, company size, company growth, industry, tangibility, inflation and the deficit and financial surplus of companies in the property, real estate and construction sectors listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2008 to 2015. The results of this study show that property, real estate, and construction sector companies are significantly implementing leverage targets. The data also shows that there is a significant effect of speed of adjustment to the leverage target which is faster when the company has a financial surplus compared to when the financial deficit.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Munir Ahmad ◽  
Ahmed Imran Hunjra ◽  
Faridul Islam ◽  
Qasim Zureigat

PurposeThe authors examine the impact of asymmetric information on firm's financing decisions, the feedback effect of changes in capital structure on the level of asymmetric information, and the speed of adjustments in capital structure on its target leverage.Design/methodology/approachThe authors extract the data on 280 non-financial firms listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) from the DataStream. The authors implement the generalized method of moments (GMM), complemented by the fixed effect model (FEM) to estimate the model coefficients.FindingsThe authors find that asymmetric information significantly affects the financing decisions; and that on average, firms adjust 26% of the total debt toward their target capital structure. The negative effect from the difference between the observed and target changes in leverage on asymmetric information confirms that capital structure changes act as a signal for future profitability and helps the management to lower its level of asymmetric information.Originality/valueThe findings offer fresh insight into the effect of asymmetric information on financing decisions, as well as the speed of adjustment of capital structure toward its target leverage, in the context of the firms working in emerging markets like Pakistan. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the impact of asymmetric information on financing decisions that incorporate firm's age, size and the global financial crises 2007–2008. The authors construct an asymmetric information index using both accounting and finance measures of asymmetry.


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