IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v55y2018icp128-139.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capital structure volatility in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Campbell, Gareth
  • Rogers, Meeghan

Abstract

Contrary to the predictions of the trade-off theory, we find that many companies in Europe had substantial variation in their capital structures between 2006 and 2016. We show that this pattern occurred across countries. Companies with the most volatile debt ratios tended to be smaller, and were less profitable. Their high debt volatility was partly due to high volatility in operating and investing activities, and partly due to a reduced propensity to let cash balances and equity payouts absorb the fluctuations.

Suggested Citation

  • Campbell, Gareth & Rogers, Meeghan, 2018. "Capital structure volatility in Europe," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 128-139.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:128-139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2017.11.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521917301813
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2017.11.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2012. "Capital Structure Choices," Critical Finance Review, now publishers, vol. 1(1), pages 59-101, January.
    2. Soku Byoun, 2008. "How and When Do Firms Adjust Their Capital Structures toward Targets?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 3069-3096, December.
    3. Masulis, Ronald W. & Trueman, Brett, 1988. "Corporate Investment and Dividend Decisions under Differential Personal Taxation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 369-385, December.
    4. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    5. Dang, Viet Anh, 2013. "An empirical analysis of zero-leverage firms: New evidence from the UK," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 189-202.
    6. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    7. Gungoraydinoglu, Ali & Öztekin, Özde, 2011. "Firm- and country-level determinants of corporate leverage: Some new international evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1457-1474.
    8. Vladimir A. Gatchev & Todd Pulvino & Vefa Tarhan, 2010. "The Interdependent and Intertemporal Nature of Financial Decisions: An Application to Cash Flow Sensitivities," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 725-763, April.
    9. Bart M. Lambrecht & Stewart C. Myers, 2012. "A Lintner Model of Payout and Managerial Rents," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(5), pages 1761-1810, October.
    10. Michael L. Lemmon & Michael R. Roberts & Jaime F. Zender, 2008. "Back to the Beginning: Persistence and the Cross‐Section of Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1575-1608, August.
    11. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Yang, Baozhong, 2013. "The mystery of zero-leverage firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 1-23.
    12. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2005. "Financing decisions: who issues stock?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 549-582, June.
    14. Mark T. Leary & Roni Michaely, 2011. "Determinants of Dividend Smoothing: Empirical Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(10), pages 3197-3249.
    15. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    16. Merton H. Miller & Franco Modigliani, 1961. "Dividend Policy, Growth, and the Valuation of Shares," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34, pages 411-411.
    17. HARRY DeANGELO & RICHARD ROLL, 2015. "How Stable Are Corporate Capital Structures?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(1), pages 373-418, February.
    18. Aggarwal, Raj & Kyaw, NyoNyo Aung, 2010. "Capital structure, dividend policy, and multinationality: Theory versus empirical evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 140-150, March.
    19. Mark T. Leary, 2009. "Bank Loan Supply, Lender Choice, and Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1143-1185, June.
    20. Kraus, Alan & Litzenberger, Robert H, 1973. "A State-Preference Model of Optimal Financial Leverage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 28(4), pages 911-922, September.
    21. Bonaimé, Alice Adams & Öztekin, Özde & Warr, Richard S., 2014. "Capital structure, equity mispricing, and stock repurchases," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 182-200.
    22. de Jong, Abe & Verbeek, Marno & Verwijmeren, Patrick, 2011. "Firms' debt-equity decisions when the static tradeoff theory and the pecking order theory disagree," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1303-1314, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mogha, Vipin & Williams, Benjamin, 2021. "Culture and capital structure: What else to the puzzle?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    2. Elena Alexandra Nenu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2018. "The Impact of Capital Structure on Risk and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence for the Bucharest Stock Exchange Listed Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-29, April.
    3. George Georgakopoulos & Kanellos Toudas & Evangelos I. Poutos & Theodoros Kounadeas & Stefanos Tsavalias, 2022. "Capital Structure, Corporate Governance, Equity Ownership and Their Impact on Firms’ Profitability and Effectiveness in the Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-10, May.
    4. Chong, Byung-Uk & Kim, Heonsoo, 2019. "Capital structure volatility, financial vulnerability, and stock returns: Evidence from Korean firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 318-326.
    5. Adhikari, Sudip & Khanal, Aditya R., 2020. "Does higher business risk influence financial risk and induce savings among small agricultural operations? Findings from Tennessee," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304509, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Morais, Flávio & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S., 2020. "The zero-leverage phenomenon: A bivariate probit with partial observability approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    7. Lydie Myriam Marcelle Amelot & Subadar Agathee Ushad & Mattew Lamport, 2018. "Capital Structure and Political Risk in an Emerging Market: Evidence from Companies Listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 8(3), pages 104-117, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bontempi, Maria Elena & Bottazzi, Laura & Golinelli, Roberto, 2020. "A multilevel index of heterogeneous short-term and long-term debt dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Bessler, Wolfgang & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Haller, Rebekka & Meier, Iwan, 2013. "The international zero-leverage phenomenon," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 196-221.
    3. Morais, Flávio & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S., 2022. "Capital structure speed of adjustment heterogeneity across zero leverage and leveraged European firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Marco Botta & Luca Colombo, 2016. "Macroeconomic and Institutional Determinants of Capital Structure Decisions," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def038, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    5. Viet Anh Dang, 2011. "Testing Capital Structure Theories Using Error Correction Models: Evidence From The Uk, France And Germany," Post-Print hal-00732527, HAL.
    6. Elena Alexandra Nenu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2018. "The Impact of Capital Structure on Risk and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence for the Bucharest Stock Exchange Listed Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-29, April.
    7. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2014. "Asymmetric adjustment toward optimal capital structure: Evidence from a crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 226-242.
    8. M. E. Bontempi & L. Bottazzi & R. Golinelli, 2015. "Dynamic corporate capital structure behavior: empirical assessment in the light of heterogeneity and non stationarity," Working Papers wp988, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    9. Morais, Flávio & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S., 2020. "The zero-leverage phenomenon: A bivariate probit with partial observability approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    10. Huu Manh Nguyen & Thi Huong Giang Vuong & Thi Huong Nguyen & Yang-Che Wu & Wing-Keung Wong, 2020. "Sustainability of Both Pecking Order and Trade-Off Theories in Chinese Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-25, May.
    11. Bigelli, Marco & Martín-Ugedo, Juan Francisco & Sánchez-Vidal, F. Javier, 2014. "Financial conservatism of private firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2419-2427.
    12. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2012. "Market timing, taxes and capital structure: evidence from Vietnam," OSF Preprints t3mvs, Center for Open Science.
    13. Chauhan, Gaurav Singh & Huseynov, Fariz, 2018. "Corporate financing and target behavior: New tests and evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 840-856.
    14. Meskat Ibne Sharif, 2019. "Fundamental Drivers of Capital Structure: Evidence from Publicly Traded Non-financial U.S. Firms," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(6), pages 113-122.
    15. Paseda, Oluseun & Olowe, Rufus, 2018. "The Debt Maturity Structure of Nigerian Quoted Firms," MPRA Paper 117061, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Jun 2018.
    16. Saona, Paolo & Vallelado, Eleuterio & San Martín, Pablo, 2020. "Debt, or not debt, that is the question: A Shakespearean question to a corporate decision," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 378-392.
    17. Li, Shengfeng & Hoque, Hafiz & Thijssen, Jacco, 2021. "Firm financial behaviour dynamics and interactions: A structural vector autoregression approach," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    18. Hess, Dieter & Immenkötter, Philipp, 2014. "How much is too much? Debt capacity and financial flexibility," CFR Working Papers 14-03, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    19. Surenderrao Komera & P. J. Jijo Lukose, 2016. "Heterogeneity and Asymmetry in Speed of Leverage Adjustment: The Indian Experience," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(03), pages 1-26, September.
    20. Rana El Bahsh & Ali Alattar & Aziz N. Yusuf, 2018. "Firm, Industry and Country Level Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from Jordan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 175-190.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:55:y:2018:i:c:p:128-139. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.