The Determinants of Debt Load for Companies in Emerging Markets

Corporate capital structure is one of the key elements of long-term development, which determines the company value.Consequently, defining the factors that influence the debt load level of a company and, hence, its capital structure is also of great importance. In this paper we have collected a sample of data of 753 Russian companies and 292 Brazilian companies for 2020 to evaluate the influence of various factors on their debt-load level. The data was downloaded from Bloomberg database and the basis of the analysis focuses on evaluation of conventional academic theories on capital structure, and a regression analysis based on variables extracted from a set of original hypotheses. Among our results, our analysis illustrates that individual sets of determinants differ significantly in explanatory power, and operate unequally when contrasting Russian companies and Brazilian ones. Additionally, it was established that when companies define their debt load, they do not limit themselves to a single theory of capital structure. We conclude, inter alia, that it is impossible to identify with confidence which of the examined theories companies are most likely to follow in their actions, because observed interrelations between relevant variables and debt load have indications of various academic theories.

Correlation-and-regression analysis of the influence of macroeconomic factors on capital structure of Russian corporations under crisis conditions

The study reveals the influence of macroeconomic factors on decisions about the optimal capital structure formation under financial globalization, in view of ever-changing factors of the external economic and geopolitical environment. The study is aimed at empirical testing of hypotheses on how the level of financial leverage of corporations depends on traditional determinants during and after the financial crisis under the emerging market conditions in Russia. The study deals with a large data set of 49 public joint stock companies from 7 leading Russian economic sectors for the period from 2011 to 2017. According to the correlation-and-regression analysis results (1) the use of traditional theories of capital structure under the conditions of current financial globalization in a country with a developing economy proves to be ineffective for the optimal capital structure formation (2) the corporate capital structure formation is strongly influenced by macroeconomic factors, which is most evidently manifested during and after the crisis (3) the financial crisis exerts a strong influence on the corporate capital structure (4) the determinant of stock market development has a significant influence on leverage and plays a prominent role in making financial decisions after the financial crisis.

Does bank affiliation affect firm capital structure? Evidence from a financial crisis

PurposeThis study aims to assess the determinants of corporate debt with a particular focus on bank-affiliated and non-bank-affiliated firms during the global financial crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyse the data of 395 listed manufacturing firms from Pakistan with 2,370 firm-year observations. The sample is divided into subsamples, namely bank-affiliated, non-bank-affiliated and stand-alone firms. Fixed and panel effect regression models are applied to determine the during, pre-crisis and post-crisis effects on corporate capital structure.FindingsThe robust results of the study reveal that non-bank-affiliated firms have different leverage determinant behaviours with a greater reliance on size, tangibility and profitability. However, bank-affiliated firms seemed to show greater immunity from a crisis compared to other firms. Simultaneously, the stand-alone firms remained at a disadvantage subject to internal financial ties of group-affiliated firms and form a base of market imperfection.Practical implicationsThis study's findings imply that financial managers should contain better ties with financial institutions to enhance financial immunity in worse time of financial crisis or COVID-19 global calamity. On the regulation front, these findings call for critical policy regulations to govern the internal ties with financial institutions to create a level playing field for the corporate sector.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate determinants of corporate debt with a particular focus on bank-affiliated and non-bank-affiliated firms. This work is also novel to explore corporate debt of bank-affiliated and non-bank-affiliated firms during the financial crisis.

Uncertainty and Capital Structure: Evidence from an Emerging Country

This paper investigates the impact of uncertainty on corporate capital structure. Using a sample consists of manufacturing firms listed in the Vietnamese Stock Market during the period from 2010 to 2019, we find that an increase in uncertainty can lead to a reduction in the corporate use of debt. This result is robust when we use a lag model or a System General Method of Moments to deal with the endogeneity problems. Moreover, our result shows that firms decrease their leverage when facing a high level of uncertainty because the increase in leverage during the heightened uncertainty periods may reduce firms’ investment. Given that firms in emerging countries in general and in Vietnam in particular rely significantly on debt financing, the results of our paper suggest that policy makers should have solutions to mitigate the adverse impact of uncertainty on firm leverage.

The Trade-Off Theory of Corporate Capital Structure

The trade-off theory of capital structure says that corporate leverage is determined by balancing the tax-saving benefits of debt against dead-weight costs of bankruptcy. The theory was developed in the early 1970s and despite a number of important challenges, it remains the dominant theory of corporate capital structure. The theory predicts that corporate debt will increase in the risk-free interest rate and if the tax code allows more generous interest rate tax deductions. Debt is decreasing in the deadweight losses in a bankruptcy. The equilibrium price of debt is decreasing in the tax benefits and increasing in the risk-free interest rate. Dynamic trade-off models can be broadly divided into two categories: models that build capital structure into a real options framework with exogenous investments and models with endogeneous investment. These models are relatively flexible, and are generally able to match a range of firm decisions and features of the data, which include the typical leverage ratios of real firms and related data moments. The literature has essentially resolved empirical challenges to the theory based on the low leverage puzzle, profits-leverage puzzle, and speed of target adjustment. As predicted, interest rates and market conditions matter for leverage. There is some evidence of the predicted tax rate and bankruptcy code effects, but it remains challenging to establish tight causal links. Overall, the theory provides a reasonable basis on which to build understanding of capital structure.

Zombies on the Brink

How does unconventional monetary policy affect corporate capital structure and investment decisions? We study the transmission channel of quantitative easing and its potential diminishing returns on investment from a corporate finance perspective. Using a rich bank-firm matched data of Japanese firms with information on corporate debt and investment, we study how firms adjust their capital structure in response to the changes in term premia. Investment responds positively to a reduction in the term premium on average. However, there is a significant degree of cross-sectional variation in firm response: healthier firms increase capital spending and cash holdings, while financially vulnerable firms take advantage of lower long-term yields to refinance without increasing investment.

Pecking order, earnings management and capital structure

Most of studies imply that firms decrease or increase their debt capacity in context of pecking order theory or agency problems. On this point, the setting of this study is based on two main problems related to capital structure: the first is determining the source of funds for financing investments, and the second is solving the conflict between shareholders and managers, or the agency problem. The objective of this study is to provide evidence about how firms establish their capital structure in relation to pecking order theory and the agency problem by controlling earnings management in the context of Indonesian firms. This study conducts logistic regression on 28 firms in the consumer goods industry listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017.This study finds that pecking order theory determines the capital structure of most Indonesian firms with high debt. The results imply that agency problems are unable to explain corporate capital structure and earnings management is not effective for motivating Indonesian firms to establish corporate governance.