Debt structure: a solution to the puzzle of capital structure

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between debt structure and future external financing and investment. Furthermore, it aims to analyze the association between debt structure and future financial performance.Design/methodology/approachVolume, maturity, possessing collateral and having priority at the settlement date are the dimensions of debt structure that have been employed in this paper. The sample consists of 1,060 firm-year observations from Tehran Stock Exchange corporations during the period 2009–2018.FindingsThe findings reveal that greater reliance on financial leverage (debt volume) and short-term debt are associated with increases in future debt financing as well as future equity financing. Moreover, these two dimensions of debt structure are positively related to future investment. This paper also shows that the positive impact of financial leverage and short-term debt on future financing and investment can finally lead to a favorable financial performance. Regarding other dimensions of debt structure, the results suggest that although collateralized debt with the priority option at the settlement date enhances future external financing, this type of debt can ultimately lead to a reduction in future investment and financial performance. Finally, the findings indicate that uncollateralized debt exacerbates future financial performance.Research limitations/implicationsFinancial performance can be affected by several factors, including available funds, investment amount, investment efficiency and managerial capability. However, this paper only considers the investment amount and external financing as the channels through which debt structure improves future financial performance. This study has the potential to contribute to one of the most important issues in finance and business fields, despite its probable trivial drawbacks.Practical implicationsFinancing strategies as one of the most controversial topics have been meticulously scrutinized in this paper and practical implications are made to facilitate the process of decision-making regarding the optimal type of debt financing.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by analyzing the direct link between debt structure and firm performance in firms domiciled in developing markets.

Unique financing strategies among beginning farmers and ranchers: differences among multigenerational and beginning operations

PurposeBeginning farmers have unique challenges securing credit because they are less likely to have established sales and collateral for secured loans. This article explores US beginning farmers’ financing strategies relative to those of established operations, with a focus on the source of financing and debt structure (short- vs long-term usage). Agricultural operations commonly use nontraditional financing tools and strategies to start, build and/or sustain their businesses. This article provides a comparative overview of financing strategies comparing established operators to operations with only beginning operators, as well as those multigenerational operations with at least one beginning operator.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses 2013–2016 USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey data to explore how various financing patterns vary across US beginning farmers and ranchers with a particular focus on understanding differences where (1) all operators are beginning, (2) there is a mix of beginning and established operators and (3) all operators are established.FindingsThis article explores how the nature of beginning farmer status, human capital resources and alternative marketing strategies may influence financial management strategies and lead to differential use of nontraditional financing sources for beginning farmers and ranchers.Originality/valueThough exploratory, the authors hope that attention to patterns among US beginning farmers and ranchers of reliance on human capital resources including off-farm income and type of beginning farm operation, nontraditional government support programs and alternative marketing strategies can provide important information as to the role of nontraditional credit in the US farm economy.

Information Resolution, Information Content, and City Debt

This chapter furthers an understanding of how information resolution relates to borrowing and debt composition at the city level. The study examines the role of credit ratings, as well as the key informational components of credit quality, for city borrowing levels and debt structure. The informational components of credit quality include economic, fiscal, debt and financial, and governance factors. This chapter evaluates city debt for the largest cities in select countries with SNG market activity across the globe by asking: What debt levels do cities have, and what is the composition of that debt? How does information resolution, both information resolution institutions and the underlying components of credit quality information assessment, influence subnational-level borrowing?

Directions of government debt securities market development

The securities market is a powerful platform to accumulate capitals for further investment in favor of structural reconstruction of economy, increasing population welfare level at the cost of fund financial instrument holding. As one of financial instruments the government debt securities gained widespread use as reliable, easy-to-use and readily obtainable financial assets. The place of bonds of domestic government loan in the formation of Ukraine’s public debt and financing of the state budget deficit is highlighted in the article. The modern statistics confirms the safety and viability for the use of internal government debt securities, and the author in made research proves significant increase of amounts attracted to budget financial fund from Ukrainian domestic government bonds settlement. The article systemizes the data on main indicators of the domestic market of Ukrainian domestic government bonds, determines the portfolio structure on the basis of ownership and describes ways to expand range of potential investors, for example, by involving physical entities. Several banks – primary dealers were chosen to analyze the purchase terms of Ukrainian domestic government bonds for citizens of Ukraine on the primary market. The directions of developments of domestic internal bet market was determined, and they are to strengthen communication with fund market participants, to concentrate liquidity in certain instruments, to protect investors multilateral trading systems, to make pricing transparent on the Ukrainian domestic government bonds market, to arrange auctions regularly, diversification of foreign currency debt structure portfolio etc. The well-structured process of Ukrainian domestic government bonds emission in the part of public debts management strategy will allow to hold investors with such investment time frame interested to obtain instruments in the mid-run.

The efficiency of the Italian preventive agreement: a legal, economic and organizational perspective

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the ex ante and ex post economic efficiency of the preventive agreement (concordato preventivo) or composition with creditors as defined by the Italian Bankruptcy Law. This study examines four possible outcomes of the procedure: homologation (confirmation); the degree of dissent/consent of creditors; the revocation, admissibility or inadmissibility; the declaration of the company bankruptcy in preventive agreement. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses data from 728 Italian companies which filed for preventive agreement in 2016. In reference to each of the four possible outcomes, this study applies nine logit regressions to analyze the effects of a series of efficiency variables ex ante (corporate-based drivers) and ex post (procedure-based drivers). Findings Results show the relevance of the debt structure, ownership structure and virtuous behavior, corporate governance and management systems, as well as effectivity of the court control on the preventive agreement outcome. Originality/value This paper draws on original data of bankruptcy in Italy and gives empirical evidence of the ex ante and ex post factors on the outcomes of the preventive agreement.

Debt Market Trends and Predictors of Specialization: An Analysis of Pakistani Corporate Sector

Recently, debt structure research has started focusing on the strategic perspective of financing choices, particularly to understand the reasons for debt specialization (DS). This paper examines trends of specialization over time and industry by using a comprehensive dataset on types of debt employed by the public limited companies during 2009–2018. The objective of the current study is to analyze the effect of debt market conditions by identifying significant predictors of DS. Time-series and cross-sectional results confirm the existence of DS, which is further validated by the findings of the cluster analysis. The empirical results indicate that overall, 61% of the companies solely rely on a single type of debt, mostly on short-term obligations accompanied by long-term secured and other debts. Moreover, small, mature, rated, group-affiliated, and low-leverage companies incline more towards this strategy. Credit rating, debt maturity, financial and interest coverage ratios serve as the primary determinants of the debt market that are significantly associated with the measures of DS. The results contribute to the capital structure literature by specifying that financing choice has an important implication in deciding the debt structure composition of the organizations.