scholarly journals What determine firms’ capital structure in China?

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1024-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Chen ◽  
Chunxia Jiang ◽  
Yujia Lin
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
State Ownership ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Chinese Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ownership Effect ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Section Sample

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of capital structure using a cross-section sample of 1,481 non-financial firms listed on the Chinese stock exchanges in 2011. Design/methodology/approach – Employing four leverage measures (total leverage and long-term leverage in terms of both book value and market value, respectively) this study examines the effects of factors with proven influences on capital structure in literature, along with industry effect and ownership effect. Findings – The authors find that large firms favour debt financing while profitable firms rely more on internal capital accumulation. Intangibility and business risk increase the level of debt financing but tax has little impact on capital structure. The authors also observe strong industrial effect and ownership effect. Real estate firms borrow considerably more and firms from utility and manufacturing industries use more long-term debt despite compared with commercial firms. On the other hand, firms with state ownership tend to borrow more, while firms with foreign ownership choose more equity financing. Research limitations/implications – The study uses cross-section data to avoid any potential time effects, which allows the authors to focus on their main research question – to identify the determinants of capital structure for Chinese firms. Future research may gain more insights using panel data and considering other factors such as crisis and financial reforms. Practical implications – These results may provide important implications to investors in making investment decision and to firms in making financing decisions. Originality/value – This paper uses by far the largest and latest cross-section sample from the Chinese stock markets, offering a more complete picture of the financing behaviours in the Chinese firms, with known characters and the impact of ownerships.

Mean reverting leverage policy in China: theory and evidence from industrial and sectorial level unit root analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajid ur Rehman
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Unit Root ◽  
Unit Root Test ◽  
Target Level ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Chinese Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Leverage Ratio ◽  
Stationary Behavior

Purpose This study aims to apply unit root test to investigate the behavior of Chinese firms toward their leverage policy. The study is based on two influential and competing theories of capital structure. Design/methodology/approach This study applies unit root test to investigate the behavior of Chinese firms toward their leverage policy. The study is based on two influential and competing theories of capital structure. Trade off theory advocates that firms have a target level of leverage ratio and that firms try to achieve that optimal leverage ratio, whereas pecking order theory argues that firms have no target level of leverage and that they follow a specific pattern of leverage. For this purpose, this study applies a Fisher type unit root test to 12,808 firm level observations. The data are unbalanced and cover a period from 1991 to 2014. Findings The results reveal the presence of a stationary behavior across short-term, long-term and total leverage policies. For short-term leverage policy, 21 per cent firms show stationary behavior, while for long-term, 20 per cent show a targeting behavior; for the total leverage policy 17 per cent of firms are found to follow a tradeoff model. To make the findings more interesting sample was further classified into profit and loss making firms. The study finds that loss making firms do not follow a target level of leverage in China. Furthermore, unit root is applied to all firms before and after crises-2008. It is revealed that stationary behavior is more prevalent before crises-2008. Originality/value This study is highly important from the point of view that it quantifies firms into distinct categories of following specific model of capital structure. To the best of the author’s knowledge, the findings of this study add to current research knowledge about Chinese firms with respect to adjustment behavior toward a target capital structure.

Empirical Analysis of Dependence on Capital Structure with Respect to Its Impact on the Financial Performance of Domestic Non Financial Listed Stock Exchange Companies Operating in the Public Sector of Pakistan

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-76
Author(s):  
Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad ◽  
Memoona Kanwal
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Random Effect Model ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This research work is based on the relationship that exists between the capital structure and performance of different sector's firms currently operating in the Pakistan. Capital structure decisions can be considered as the most important financial performance and risk management tools which are available to the companies' management. Capital structure can also play an important role in performance assessment, in performance management and in effective handling of ownership claims. The extensive use and heavy dependence on debt has exposed many companies to potential risk of declined performance and also to the risk of insolvency. This study analyzes the relationship between various capital structure indicators and dependence of financial performance of companies on these indicators using a broad sample covering 202 non-financial firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) over the period of 1999-2012. The sample firms are divided into five sectors i.e. Textile, Chemical, Cement, Food and Fuel & Energy. Financial performance of firms is quantified by Return on Assets (ROE), Return on Equity (ROE), Price-Earnings ratio (PE) and Tobin's Q (TQ). The relationship between financial performance measures and capital structure measures i.e. total debt, short term debt and long term debt is estimated using GLS fixed and random effect model. Sector wise comparison shows that majority of the sectors have similar capital structure. The impact of capital structure on the financial performance is also similar across sectors with few variations. Overall the relationship is found to be negative among capital structure and firm performance measured by ROA, ROE and PE except TQ which is positively related to Long Term Debt to total Assets (LTDA). The result of industry wise comparison contributes significantly to the existing stream of knowledge. The results indicate that lower reliance on the debt financing improves the performance of the firm whereas dependence and exposure of debt financing reduce performance. The research can be useful for the management of companies in different sectors that want to improve their performance.

Credit expansion, state ownership and capital structure of Chinese real estate companies

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianfu Shen ◽  
Xianting Yin
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Capital Structure ◽  
Housing Prices ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Credit Expansion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Real Estate Markets ◽  
Credit Supply ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Expansion Period

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the credit expansion in 2009 and 2010 in China on the capital structure of listed real estate companies. Design/methodology/approach – Chinese listed real estate companies are divided into two groups, state-owned and non-state-owned, because their access to credit markets have different priority to state-owned banks that dominate bank lending. The difference-in-differences approach is employed to test the impact of changes in leverage ratios and loan ratios before and after the credit expansion period in state-owned firms and non-state-owned firms. Findings – Using quarterly panel regressions, the authors find that during the credit expansion period, state-owned companies exhibit a relatively greater increase in leverage ratios than non-state-owned firms. State-owned firms have greater increases in book leverage ratios, market leverage ratios and long-term debt ratios by 5.2, 4.9 and 1.1 per cent, respectively. It is also shown that loan ratios have increased more in state-owned firms than non-state-owned firms during the credit expansion period. Research limitations/implications – The paper explores only the impacts of credit expansion on capital structure of listed real estate firms in China. Further studies can be conducted to investigate the impact of credit supply on corporate investment decisions of real estate firms and on real estate markets. Practical implications – The findings can help explain the surge in land and housing prices after 2008 in China. Deng et al. (2015) find that state-owned real estate firms paid more for land price than non-state-owned firms, which contributed to upward pressure on housing prices. This paper shows that such “over-investment” may be due to the increase of debt financing and availability of bank loans to real estate firms. Thus the credit market can affect real estate markets through debt financing at company level. Originality/value – This paper is the first to investigate the impact of credit supply on capital structure of real estate companies, and presents evidence of the importance of credit supply as a determinant of capital structure.

Do working capital management practices influence investment and financing patterns of firms?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahsan Akbar ◽  
Xinfeng Jiang ◽  
Minhas Akbar
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Capital Management ◽  
Working Capital ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Working Capital Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Investment And Financing ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe present study aims to investigate the impact of working capital management (WCM) practices on the investment and financing patterns of listed nonfinancial companies in Pakistan for a span of 10 years.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on secondary financial data of 354 listed nonfinancial Pakistani firms during the period of 2005–2014. The two-step generalized method of moment (GMM) regression estimation technique is employed to ensure the robustness of results.FindingsEmpirical testing reveals that: excessive funds tied up in working capital have a negative impact on the investment portfolio of sample firms. Besides, a negative relationship between change in fixed assets and excess net working capital posits that, eventually, firms use idle resources tied up in short-lived assets to boost their investment activities. Furthermore, larger working capital levels were associated with higher leverage ratio which indicates that firms with inefficient WCM policies have to rely heavily on long-term debt to meet their short-term financing requirements. Additional results indicate that firms that take more time to sell inventory and convert receivables to cash, make more use of debt. Results of cash management models illustrate that cash-rich firms have lower leverage levels which signal the strong financial health and internal revenue generation capability of such firms.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of empirical studies that examine the implications of WCM decisions on a firm's capital structure. Besides, these studies are only confined to how a WCM policy influences the long-term investment activities of a firm. The research contributes to the extant literature by empirically revealing a link between the WCM practices and the firm's long-range investment and financing patterns. Hence, financial managers shall account for the impact of their short-term financial management decisions on the capital structure of the firm.

The dynamics of capital structure and heterogeneous systematic risk classes in Egypt

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarek I. Eldomiaty ◽  
Mohamed H. Azim
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Systematic Risk ◽  
Free Cash Flow ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Pecking Order ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Medium Risk

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine firms' strategies to change long‐ and short‐term debt financing in Egypt. It aims to examine a list of capital structure determinants that include the basic assumptions of the three well‐known theories of capital structure: tradeoff, pecking order, and free cash.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilizes the properties of partial adjustment model for three heterogeneous systematic risk classes: high, medium and low. The sensitivity analysis is carried out using the “extreme bound analysis”.FindingsThe results indicate that Egyptian firms adjust short‐ and long‐term debt according to the class of systematic risk; long‐term debt is a source of financing at all classes of systematic risk; firms have obvious tendency to extent short‐ to long‐term one; medium risk firms adjust long‐term debt according to the industry average debt, and depend heavily on long‐term debt financing; firms depend significantly and constantly on the liquidity position to adjust short‐term debt levels; and medium risk firms are relatively affected by the basic assumptions of free cash flow and low‐risk firms are relatively affected by the assumptions of the pecking order theory.Research limitations/implicationsIn general, the results provide evidence that the three theories have transitory effect from developed markets to transitional markets. In addition, the firm‐specific variables (industry characteristic, size and time) provide an additional support to the robustness of the results.Originality/valueFew, if any studies, have been carried out in Egyptian data.

Consequences and determinants of IFRS convergence in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-322
Author(s):  
Vincent Tawiah ◽  
Pran Boolaky
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Rational Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ◽  
Family Control ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence of how convergence to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) impacts accounting values and the determinants of variation in equity adjustments among Indian companies. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 323 listed companies, the authors empirically test whether there is a significant difference between converged IFRS (Ind.AS) and Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (AS) reported figures and ratios and why companies adjust differently. Findings This paper reveals that fair valuation under Ind.AS causes a significant decrease in goodwill. A substantial decrease in both current and long-term liabilities because of non-recognition of proposed dividend, discounting of long-term provision per Ind.AS was also found. The variations in equity adjustment were significantly influenced by capital structure, level of family control and auditor type. Practical implications This paper provides insights to users who are interested in historical data, that Ind.AS brings significant changes in the accounting values and ratios and the impact differs among companies based on capital structure, ownership and auditor type. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature of IFRS convergence in India by providing rational analysis of the differences between IFRS, Indian converged GAAP and Indian local GAAP among companies and its impact on accounting values.

Financial leverage and corporate innovation in Chinese public-listed firms

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Najaf Iqbal ◽  
Ju Feng Xu ◽  
Zeeshan Fareed ◽  
Guangcai Wan ◽  
Lina Ma
Keyword(s):  
Debt Financing ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Financial Leverage ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
System Gmm ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Innovation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Chinese Public

PurposeThis study attempts to document the impact of financial leverage on corporate innovation in the Chinese nonfinancial public firms listed on Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges.Design/methodology/approachThe firm-level data are collected from CSMAR database for ten years, ranging from 2007 to 2016. The authors have employed the panel fixed effects model and further system GMM approach for analysis. The sample is segregated on the basis of state (SOE) and nonstate ownership (NSOE) to check for the diverse effects. In total, three different proxies of financial leverage are used to unearth the varying impact of short-time and long-term leverage separately. Further, corporate innovation is divided into input innovation (R&D/Sales and R&D/Assets) and output innovation (patents and inventions).FindingsThe results suggest that financial leverage is detrimental to the input innovation while conducive for the output innovation when measured by the number of patents. Contrarily, leverage has a negative influence over the output innovation when measured by the number of inventions. This implies that leverage is more damaging for the highest form of innovativeness (inventions) in China. Input innovation is more sensitive to the changes in long-term leverage versus short-term leverage. Further, the authors find that innovation in SOEs is more sensitive to the changes in the leverage as compared to the NSOEs. The results are free from the threat of endogeneity and identification problems, as reported by the system GMM model.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors did not segregate the sample on the basis of industry/sector.Practical implicationsThe firms pursuing a strategy of radical innovation should try to keep their debt levels lower in order to achieve a higher innovation performance. Although, a rise in the leverage may mean an increased access to finance for a firm but such an access comes at a cost in the form of damage to the corporate innovation. However, increased debt financing may not be so bad for the firms that want to achieve a moderate and not the highest level of innovation. Such firms can produce recurring and synergic effects with debt financing and moderate innovation, once they achieve a level of innovation performance that satisfies their financiers.Originality/valueTo the best of authors’ knowledge, this is probably the first study to check the impact of firm-level financial leverage on both input and output innovation in the Chinese public-listed nonfinancial firms' panel data perspective till now.

A qualitative inquiry into the capital structure decisions of overconfident finance managers of family-owned businesses in India

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hardeep Singh Mundi ◽  
Parmjit Kaur ◽  
R.L.N. Murty
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Capital Structure ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Overconfidence Bias ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
The Capital Structure

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of the overconfidence of finance managers on the capital structure decisions of family-run businesses in the Indian scenario. Furthermore, this study aims to demonstrate that measurable managerial characteristics explain the capital structure decisions of managers. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative approach to research, which aims at understanding a given phenomenon among the experts, is followed. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with 21 overconfident finance managers of family-owned businesses. Content analysis is used to analyse the collected data regarding capital structure decisions into several themes to fully explore the issue in the Indian scenario. Findings In terms of preference for cash or debt, most of the responding overconfident finance managers of family-run businesses agreed that cash is the preferred source of financing over debt financing. This is due to the biased behaviour of overconfident managers, who consider lower availability of debt as a reason to prefer cash over debt financing. The present study reports that overconfident finance managers prefer short- to long-term debt financing. These managers raise certain practical issues, such as stringent debt terms and inflexible repayment schedules, that arise in relation to the long-term debt market. The study also finds that overconfident finance managers do not fully use tax savings. Respondents reported a lack of access to the debt market and a lack of expertise in capital structure decisions as factors in these capital structure decisions. In addition, the study explores various factors, such as the role of government, the Central Bank of India and industry practices, in relation to capital structure decisions. The study finds that the capital structure decisions of these overconfident finance managers are suboptimal because of the presence of overconfidence bias. Research limitations/implications This study gathers information from respondents who are finance managers, not top-level managers, of family businesses; the decision not to interview the higher-ranking managers is a potential limitation of the present study. Another limitation is the small number of respondents in a specific firm size. Because of these factors, the generalisability of the findings of this study will obviously be restricted. Practical implications The present study has several practical implications. The first is the recognition of overconfidence bias as it affects the decision-making of finance managers. Executives, especially finance executives, will benefit from the recognition of overconfidence bias and will understand how the presence of such bias impacts corporate decision-making. Managers will understand that bias leads to faulty decision-making. The study will provide indirect feedback to policymakers and regulators in terms of understanding the role of macroeconomic variables in economic decisions. The qualitative approach followed in the present study may enhance the understanding of capital structure decisions from a psychological perspective. The majority of studies in the review of literature adopt quantitative approaches; so the qualitative approach adopted here represents a methodological innovation, and it may provide a deeper understanding of the matter. Originality/value The existing literature includes quantitative research aimed at understanding the impact of CEO overconfidence on various corporate policies such as capital budgeting, mergers and acquisitions, dividend policy and capital structure decisions. Quantitative research into the presence of overconfidence bias among executives and its impact on corporate policies returns mixed results. To fulfil the need for studies of overconfidence bias among executives with practical implications, this study explores the presence of overconfidence bias among finance managers in family-run businesses and investigates the impact of overconfidence on capital structure decisions.

Impact of macroeconomic variables on corporate capital structure: a case of India

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhavna Ranjan Ahuja ◽  
Rosy Kalra
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Macroeconomic Variables ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Indian Context ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Capital Structure

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine the impact of macroeconomic variables on the capital structure of manufacturing companies in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs panel regression technique (random effects model) on a sample of 1,029 listed Indian manufacturing companies divided into two categories – large-size companies and mid-size companies for the last ten years from FY 2008–09 to FY 2017–18. Two separate models pertaining to long-term leverage (TTL_TNW ratio) and total leverage (TOL_TNW) have been examined.FindingsMajor findings show that macroeconomic variables play a relatively more important role in deciding the long-term debt component in the capital structure of the firms as compared to short-term loans. Similarly macroeconomic variables are found to be more significant in case of large-size companies as compared to mid-size companies. Also, there is a negative relationship between market capitalisation and leverage and bank credit and leverage, whereas money supply has a positive relationship with leverage.Research limitations/implicationsThe study makes an important contribution to the existing literature in understanding better how macroeconomic variables play an important role in determining the capital structure of firms. In the present dynamic economic environment, such a study lays down the macro areas on which the academicians, policymakers and financial managers can focus with respect to corporate financing decisions. The firm-specific factors have not been taken into account. Inclusion of these factors will make the results more robust.Originality/valueThe study focusses on the impact of macroeconomic variables on the capital structure decision of the Indian firms. Several studies in this area have been done in the context of the developed countries. However, there are not many studies in the Indian context that examine the relationship between financing decision and macroeconomic variables. The results that have been derived in case of developed economies may not be extended in the Indian context as there are considerable differences across countries related to corporate and legal environment, taxation system, corporate governance laws, interest rate environments, banking system, sources of funds and so on. Therefore, it becomes important to focus on countries individually.

scholarly journals Does information asymmetry lead to higher debt financing? Evidence from China during the NTS Reform period

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenzhou Qu ◽  
Udomsak Wongchoti ◽  
Fei Wu ◽  
Yanming Chen
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Order Theory ◽  
Asymmetry Index ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Pecking Order ◽  
Chinese Firms ◽  
Pecking Order Theory ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test an implication of the pecking order theory to explain capital structure decisions among Chinese listed companies during the 2005-2007 NTS Reform transition period. Design/methodology/approach The authors utilize direct proxies for information asymmetry based on microstructure models including Probability of the arrival of informed trades (PIN), Adverse selection component of the bid-ask spread (λ), Illiquidity ratio (ILLIQ) and liquidity ratio, and Information asymmetry index (InfoAsy) to examine their relation with firms’ debt financing. Findings Consistent with the prediction of Pecking Order Theory, the authors find that companies for which stock investors are challenged with more severe informational disadvantages are associated with higher degree of leverage use. Originality/value The study provides a more direct test on the positive relation between information asymmetry and financial leverage of Chinese firms. In contrast to previous findings by Chen (2004), the results suggest that capital structure choices among Chinese firms progressively conform to conventional finance theories (e.g. Pecking Order Theory) with the decline of non-tradable shares.

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