Determinants of capital structure: an empirical study of firms in Iran

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alipour ◽  
Mir Farhad Seddigh Mohammadi ◽  
Hojjatollah Derakhshan

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the determinants of capital structure of non-financial firms in Iran. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews different conditional theories of capital structure to formulate testable propositions concerning the determinants of capital structure of Iranian companies. Pooled ordinary least squares and panel econometric techniques such as fixed effects and random effects are used to investigate the most significant factors that affect the capital structure choice of manufacturing firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange Iran during 2003-2007. Findings – The results of the study suggest that variables such as firm’s size, financial flexibility, asset structure, profitability, liquidity, growth, risk and state ownership affect all measures of capital structure of Iranian corporations. Short-term debt is found to represent an important financing source for corporations in Iran. The results of the present research are consistent with some capital structure theories. Research limitations/implications – In general, the results provide evidence that the five theories discussed influence emerging markets. Due to the existence of a negative relationship between profitability and capital structure, investors must consider capital structure before making investment decisions. Practical implications – This study has laid some groundwork to explore the determinants of capital structure of Iranian firms upon which a more detailed evaluation could be based. Furthermore, the empirical findings will help corporate managers in making optimal capital structure decisions. Originality/value – To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores the determinants of capital structure of manufacturing firms in Iran by using the most recent data. Moreover, this paper provides a theoretical model to explain the mechanism of how the ownership structure impacts debt financing.

Author(s):  
Nadeem Ahmed Sheikh ◽  
Muhammad Azeem Qureshi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how conventional and Islamic commercial banks in Pakistan choose their capital structure and what are the most significant factors that affect their choice of capital structure. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected the data from the annual reports of commercial banks listed on Karachi Stock Exchange Pakistan during 2004-2014. Panel data techniques, namely, pooled ordinary least squares, fixed effects and random effects, were used to estimate the relationship between book leverage and bank-specific variables such as profitability, size, growth, tangibility and earnings volatility. Findings Descriptive statistics indicate that conventional commercial banks are more levered than Islamic commercial banks. Moreover, conventional commercial banks are larger, profitable and have relatively safe earnings than Islamic commercial banks. In contrast, Islamic commercial banks have relatively more fixed operating assets and growth in total assets compared to the conventional commercial banks. Regression results indicate that profitability, growth and tangibility are negatively, whereas bank size and earnings volatility are positively, related to book leverage of conventional commercial banks. On the other hand, only three variables, namely, profitability, bank size and tangibility, have material effects on capital structure choice of Islamic commercial banks. Profitability and tangibility are negatively while bank size is positively related to book leverage of the Islamic banks. In sum, results of the study indicate that Islamic and conventional commercial banks have their own way to choose the capital structure than the non-financial firms; however, their choice is affected by the similar variables as identified for non-financial firms in Pakistan. Practical implications Results of this study provide support to bank managers to understand the effects of bank-specific variables on capital structure and make them able to determine a balanced capital structure considering the regulations framed by the central bank of the country. Originality/value This is the first study that investigates the factors that affect the capital structure of conventional and Islamic commercial banks in Pakistan. Moreover, findings of this study lay some foundation upon which a more detail analysis of capital structure of banks could be based.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Ukaegbu ◽  
Isaiah Oino

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there are differences between the determinants of the capital structure in financial and manufacturing firms and also assess how the speed of adjustment differs. Design/methodology/approach – This study employed balanced panels data procedure using pooled ordinary least square, the random effects and fixed effects on manufacturing firms and banks that are listed on Nigeria Stock Exchange. The use of the three estimation method is in order to make a meaningful comparison between the models. Findings – The findings indicate that there are similarities and differences in the capital structure determinants on the two sets of firms: banks tend to be more leveraged when they are more profitable and manufacturing firms tend to be less leveraged when they are profitable. In addition, banks adjust their leverage faster at a speed of 69 per cent than manufacturing firms at 46 per cent. The study also shows that changes in the economy influence the capital structure of financial firms more than that of manufacturing firms. Research limitations/implications – The study only focused on one economy. Practical implications – As a result of 2008 global financial crisis, there has been intense debate on the significance of regulatory capital. The study demonstrate the need for regulatory capital in banks to be procyclical rather than being static. Originality/value – To the best of the knowledge, this is the first paper to empirically test how capital structure differ between banks and non-financial institutions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Osama F. Atayah ◽  
Khakan Najaf ◽  
Ravichandran K. Subramaniam ◽  
Phaik Nie Chin

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the implication of top executives’ number of years of experience (tenure) on corporate risk-taking behaviour and corporate performance in Malaysian corporations.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypothesis efficiently, the authors have extracted the data from Bloomberg for 788 listed companies of the Malaysian Stock Exchange. The methodology entails ordinary least squares regressions, quantile regression and dynamic system generalized method of moments model.FindingsFirst, the authors show that executive management tenure has a significant negative relationship with corporate risk-taking. It means that the long-tenured executives tend to undertake less risky strategies and decisions. Second, this study reveals that the longer executive management tenure has a positive relationship with corporate performance. Third, the moderating effect of corporate risk-taking with executive tenure (Tenure dummy*Risk) has a negative relationship with the corporate performance by 1%.Practical implicationsIt implies that the appointment of experienced executive management contributes towards corporate performance directly. However, experienced management trends take less risk, which eventually results in mitigating the corporate performance. On that basis, the findings are significant in highlighting the usefulness of executive leadership term and offers insights to academics, practitioners and policymakers.Originality/valueThis paper is novel since it is unique in evaluating the executive tenure and the preferences to handle risk strategies and how that impact the firm performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelvin Henry Kyissima ◽  
Gong Zhang Xue ◽  
Thales Pacific Yapatake Kossele ◽  
Ahmed Ramadhan Abeid

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the corporate capital structure stability of listed firms in China during the period 1990–2013. Design/methodology/approach The study uses panel data from a sample of 716 firms that have been listed in China for at least 15 years. A fixed-effects panel data regression model with time effects is used in the estimation. Findings The findings show that size, profitability and investment opportunities have a significant influence on capital structure, whereas the tangibility of assets is not found to be significant. Few industries show significance in explaining differences and variation in leverage ratios. Social implications It is recommended by this study that corporate managers of listed firms in China should consider leverage ratios variation while choosing the capital structure. Originality/value This study can be helpful in assisting companies to make financing decisions and setting up strategies relevant in their growth and profitability. The study will also have a significant assistance to bring to light corporate issues to policy makers, especially in the areas of both equity and debt financing, particularly the bond market. To the society, this study will show the nature of Chinese-listed companies, and it can assist individual investors in making decisions regarding companies in which they hold investments and in making meaningful comparisons with other companies. The paper also aims at contributing to the existing literature on the empirical study on capital structure.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Kalash

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of environmental performance on the capital structure and financial performance of Turkish listed firms. Design/methodology/approach This study used data of 49 firms listed on Istanbul Stock Exchange during the period between 2014 and 2019, resulting in 205 firm-year observations. The environmental performance data were drawn from the carbon disclosure project Turkey climate change reports. Ordinary least squares and binary logistic regression models were used to examine whether environmental performance impacts the capital structure and financial performance. Findings The findings of this research revealed that environmental performance significantly positively affects the firm leverage. Findings also showed that environmental performance has a significantly positive impact on return on assets, operating profitability and return on equity, but no significant impact on stock returns. Practical implications Given the increased borrowing costs for Turkish firms after the 2018 currency crisis in Turkey, the findings of this study are very important as they enable managers of Turkish firms to make better decisions related to capital structure and to understand the role of environmental performance in reducing the cost of debt and enhancing financial performance. Originality/value To the author’s knowledge, this research is the first to investigate the effect of environmental performance on capital structure in the Turkish context, and is one of few that explained how environmental performance affects the financial performance of Turkish firms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mutua Mathuva

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether non-financial firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) exhibit a target cash conversion cycle (CCC). The study also examines the speed of adjustment to the target CCC and the factors that influence corporate decisions on the optimum length of the CCC. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a sample of 33 publicly traded firms on the NSE for the period between 1993 and 2008, cross-sectional and time series analyses were carried out on the data comprising 468 firm-years. A target adjustment model was developed to examine the significant determinants of the CCC. Various regression approaches including ordinary least squares, fixed effects and two-stage least squares estimation models were used in data analysis. Findings – The results, which are robust for endogeneity, show that non-financial firms listed on the NSE maintain a target CCC. Further analysis reveals that these firms adjust to the target CCC at a slower rate. The results show that the determinants of the CCC include both firm-specific and economy-wide factors. Specifically, the study establishes that older firms and firms with more internal resources maintain longer CCC. Moreover higher return on assets, investment in capital expenditure and growth opportunities have a significant negative association with the CCC. The results also show a significant positive relation between inflation and the CCC. Practical implications – The study establishes that other than internal firm-specific factors, the CCC is also influenced by inflation, which is an external, economy-wide factor. Originality/value – To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to examine whether listed non-financial firms in a frontier market maintain a target CCC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Sufian Radwan Almanaseer

This study aimed to explore the determinants of the capital structure of the banks listed in the Amman Stock Exchange. A sample of 13 Jordanian commercial banks of 16 banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange selected for the period 2008-2017. The current study applied a fixed-effects regression model by using e-views to analyze the relationship between financial leverage and firm characteristics such as Risk, Size, profitability, Growth, liquidity, Tax, Age, tangibility, and macroeconomic variables such as Gross Domestic Product, Inflation. The study finds a significant positive relationship between financial leverage, age, growth, risk, size, and tax. Also, the study finds a significant negative relationship between financial leverage with GDP, inflation, liquidity, profitability, and tangibility.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1289-1305
Author(s):  
Wajid Alim ◽  
Muhammad Kaleem ◽  
Sammar Abbas ◽  
Dilawar Khan

Purpose One aspect of agency theory suggests that dominant shareholders use the firm’s assets for their personal benefits and 1thus expropriate minority shareholders (tunneling). Accordingly, this paper aims to examine the effect of capital structure and cash holding decisions on minority shareholders' expropriation for short and long periods. Design/methodology/approach Data of 16 years (2000-2015) has been obtained from 200 non-financial firms registered at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The study used fixed effect and autoregressive distributed lagged to obtain the results. Findings The results suggest that the presence of more debts in capital structure is positively associated with minority shareholders' expropriation, whereas a negative association has been found between the level of cash holding and minority shareholders expropriation. These results have been observed as significant both for the short and long run. Research limitations/implications This study also suggests some important measures to control minority shareholders' expropriation by the dominant shareholders and thus to protect their rights. Originality/value There is a lack of literature for this severe issue in the developing countries especially Pakistan, so this study narrates the potential measures to the regulatory authority of the market to curb tunneling and to protect minority shareholders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-144
Author(s):  
John Francis Diaz ◽  
Rudresh Pandey

The research studies the relationship between eight firm-specific factors on the profitability of U.S. technology and financial firms. The study used multiple linear panel regression models, namely, ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects (FE) and random effects (RE) models. Empirical findings show that return on equity ratio is negatively related with return on assets (ROA), while return on sales ratio has positive relationship with profitability for both technology and financial firms. On one hand, current ratio has a positive relationship with the profitability of the financial firms, while there is negative relationship for technology firms. Lastly, size has positive relationship with the profitability for technology firms. This study provides renewed perspectives in creating suitable strategies to controlling factors that maximizes profitability for both US publicly-listed technology and financial companies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 478-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed H. Elmagrhi ◽  
Collins G. Ntim ◽  
John Malagila ◽  
Samuel Fosu ◽  
Abongeh A. Tunyi

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the association among trustee board diversity (TBD), corporate governance (CG), capital structure (CS) and financial performance (FP) by using a sample of UK charities. Specifically, the authors investigate the effect of TBD on CS and ascertain whether CG quality moderates the TBD–CS nexus. Additionally, the authors examine the impact of CS on FP and ascertain whether the CS–FP nexus is moderated by TBD and CG quality.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a number of multivariate regression techniques, including ordinary least squares, fixed-effects, lagged-effects and two-stage least squares, to rigorously analyse the data and test the hypotheses.FindingsFirst, the authors find that trustee board gender diversity has a negative effect on CS, but this relationship holds only up to the point of having three women trustees. The authors find similar, but relatively weak, results for the presence of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) trustees. Second, the authors find that the TBD–CS nexus depends on the quality of CG, with the relationship being stronger in charities with higher frequency of meetings, independent CG committee and larger trustee and audit firm size. Third, the authors find that CS structure has a positive effect on FP, but this is moderated by TBD and CG quality. The evidence is robust to different econometric models that adjust for alternative measures and endogeneities. The authors interpret the findings within explanations of a theoretical perspective that captures insights from different CG and CS theories.Originality/valueExisting studies that explore TBD, CG, CS and FP in charities are rare. This study distinctively attempts to address this empirical lacuna within the extant literature by providing four new insights with specific focus on UK charities. First, the authors provide new evidence on the relationship between TBD and CS. Second, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of CG on the TBD-CS nexus. Third, the authors provide new evidence on the effect of CS on FP. Finally, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of TBD and CG on the CS–FP nexus.


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