IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v109y2020icp26-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rising corporate debt and value relevance of supply-side factors in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Machokoto, Michael
  • Areneke, Geofry
  • Ibrahim, Boulis Maher

Abstract

Motivated by the recent discovery of a significant increase in corporate debt in developed countries, we use a large sample of 775 listed companies to examine the dynamics and determinants of South African corporate debt. We find an 89% increase in the leverage of the average firm, from 11% in 1990 to 21% in 2015. Long-term and short-term debt increased by 103% and 67%, respectively. We find that this increase is pervasive, and cannot be explained entirely by either firm attributes or macroeconomic factors, despite the importance of the latter. Instead, we find supply-side factors to be the main determinants of the upward trend in corporate debt, highlighting their importance to corporate debt policies in emerging economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Machokoto, Michael & Areneke, Geofry & Ibrahim, Boulis Maher, 2020. "Rising corporate debt and value relevance of supply-side factors in South Africa," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 26-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:109:y:2020:i:c:p:26-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.11.039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296319307143
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.11.039?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. Maes, Elisabeth & Dewaelheyns, Nico & Fuss, Catherine & Van Hulle, Cynthia, 2019. "The impact of exporting on financial debt choices of SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 56-73.
    2. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2001. "Disappearing Dividends: Changing Firm Characteristics Or Lower Propensity To Pay?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 14(1), pages 67-79, March.
    3. Robert E. Krainer, 2014. "Financial Aspects of Business Cycles: An Analysis of Balance Sheet Adjustments of U.S. Nonfinancial Enterprises over the Twentieth Century," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(2-3), pages 371-407, March.
    4. Ovtchinnikov, Alexei V., 2010. "Capital structure decisions: Evidence from deregulated industries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 249-274, February.
    5. Brown, James R. & Petersen, Bruce C., 2009. "Why has the investment-cash flow sensitivity declined so sharply? Rising R&D and equity market developments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 971-984, May.
    6. Melinda Vaughn & Lori Verstegen Ryan, 2006. "Corporate Governance in South Africa: a bellwether for the continent?," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(5), pages 504-512, September.
    7. Mr. Mauro Mecagni & Mr. Jorge I Canales Kriljenko & Cheikh A. Gueye & Mr. Yibin Mu & Mr. Masafumi Yabara & Mr. Sebastian Weber, 2014. "Issuing International Sovereign Bonds: Opportunities and Challenges for Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Departmental Papers / Policy Papers 2014/007, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Cook, Douglas O. & Tang, Tian, 2010. "Macroeconomic conditions and capital structure adjustment speed," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 73-87, February.
    9. Leary, Mark T. & Roberts, Michael R., 2010. "The pecking order, debt capacity, and information asymmetry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 332-355, March.
    10. Murillo Campello & Erasmo Giambona & John R. Graham & Campbell R. Harvey, 2011. "Access to Liquidity and Corporate Investment in Europe during the Financial Crisis," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 16(2), pages 323-346.
    11. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    12. Chen, Jean J., 2004. "Determinants of capital structure of Chinese-listed companies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(12), pages 1341-1351, December.
    13. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    14. Areneke, Geofry & Kimani, Danson, 2019. "Value relevance of multinational directorship and cross-listing on MNEs national governance disclosure practices in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Nigeria," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 285-306.
    15. Hui Chen, 2010. "Macroeconomic Conditions and the Puzzles of Credit Spreads and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(6), pages 2171-2212, December.
    16. 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.
    17. Campello, Murillo & Giambona, Erasmo, 2013. "Real Assets and Capital Structure," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(5), pages 1333-1370, October.
    18. Öztekin, Özde, 2015. "Capital Structure Decisions around the World: Which Factors Are Reliably Important?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 301-323, June.
    19. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2004. "New lists: Fundamentals and survival rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 229-269, August.
    20. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    21. Garay, Urbi & González, Maximiliano & Rosso, John, 2019. "Country and industry effects in corporate bond spreads in emerging markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 191-200.
    22. Collins Ntim & Teerooven Soobaroyen, 2013. "Black Economic Empowerment Disclosures by South African Listed Corporations: The Influence of Ownership and Board Characteristics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 121-138, August.
    23. Céspedes, Jacelly & González, Maximiliano & Molina, Carlos A., 2010. "Ownership and capital structure in Latin America," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 248-254, March.
    24. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2012. "Do financing constraints matter for R&D?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1512-1529.
    25. Custódio, Cláudia & Ferreira, Miguel A. & Laureano, Luís, 2013. "Why are US firms using more short-term debt?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 182-212.
    26. Menkhoff, Lukas & Neuberger, Doris & Suwanaporn, Chodechai, 2006. "Collateral-based lending in emerging markets: Evidence from Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-21, January.
    27. Korajczyk, Robert A. & Levy, Amnon, 2003. "Capital structure choice: macroeconomic conditions and financial constraints," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 75-109, April.
    28. Mensi, Walid & Hammoudeh, Shawkat & Reboredo, Juan Carlos & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2014. "Do global factors impact BRICS stock markets? A quantile regression approach," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 1-17.
    29. Borisova, Ginka & Brown, James R., 2013. "R&D sensitivity to asset sale proceeds: New evidence on financing constraints and intangible investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 159-173.
    30. Hearn, Bruce & Piesse, Jenifer & Strange, Roger, 2010. "Market liquidity and stock size premia in emerging financial markets: The implications for foreign investment," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 489-501, October.
    31. Whited, Toni M., 2006. "External finance constraints and the intertemporal pattern of intermittent investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 467-502, September.
    32. You, Kefei & Dal Bianco, Silvia & Lin, Zhibin & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2019. "Bridging technology divide to improve business environment: Insights from African nations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 268-280.
    33. Heitor Almeida & Murillo Campello & Michael S. Weisbach, 2004. "The Cash Flow Sensitivity of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1777-1804, August.
    34. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2012. "Asymmetric capital structure adjustments: New evidence from dynamic panel threshold models," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 465-482.
    35. Brown, James R. & Petersen, Bruce C., 2015. "Which investments do firms protect? Liquidity management and real adjustments when access to finance falls sharply," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 441-465.
    36. Graham, John R. & Leary, Mark T. & Roberts, Michael R., 2015. "A century of capital structure: The leveraging of corporate America," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(3), pages 658-683.
    37. Marco Sorge & Chendi Zhang & Kostas Koufopoulos, 2017. "Short‐Term Corporate Debt around the World," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(5), pages 997-1029, August.
    38. 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.
    39. Kahle, Kathleen M. & Stulz, René M., 2013. "Access to capital, investment, and the financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 280-299.
    40. Manikas, Andrew S. & Patel, Pankaj C. & Oghazi, Pejvak, 2019. "Dynamic capital asset accumulation and value of intangible assets: An operations management perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 119-129.
    41. Bruce Hearn & Jenifer Piesse & Roger Strange, 2010. "Market liquidity and stock size premia in emerging financial markets," Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 75-101.
    42. Lemmon, Michael & Roberts, Michael R., 2010. "The Response of Corporate Financing and Investment to Changes in the Supply of Credit," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 555-587, June.
    43. Viet A. Dang, 2011. "Leverage, Debt Maturity and Firm Investment: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1-2), pages 225-258, January.
    44. Gwatidzo, Tendai & Ojah, Kalu, 2014. "Firms’ debt choice in Africa: Are institutional infrastructure and non-traditional determinants important?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 152-166.
    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. Machokoto, Michael & Chipeta, Chimwemwe & Aftab, Nadeem & Areneke, Geofry, 2021. "The financial conservatism of firms in emerging economies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Michael Machokoto & Daniel Gyimah & Boulis Maher Ibrahim, 2022. "The evolution of trade credit: new evidence from developed versus developing countries," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 857-912, October.
    3. Paseda, Oluseun & Obademi, Olalekan, 2020. "Macroeconomic variables and their effects on the capital structure of quoted Nigerian firms," MPRA Paper 117060, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 Jan 2020.
    4. Machokoto, Michael & Bayai, Innocent & Kadzima, Marvelous, 2023. "The nonlinear impact of debt on employment: Does institutional quality matter?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. McWalter, Thomas A. & Ritchken, Peter H., 2022. "Black economic empowerment regulation and risk incentives," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    6. Michael Machokoto & Geofry Areneke & Davis Nyangara, 2021. "Financial conservatism, firm value and international business risk: Evidence from emerging economies around the global financial crisis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4590-4608, July.
    7. Machokoto, Michael & Mahonye, Nyasha & Makate, Marshall, 2022. "Short-term financing sources in Africa: Substitutes or complements?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    8. Geofry Areneke & Abongeh A. Tunyi, 2022. "Chairperson and CEO foreignness and CG quality of emerging markets MNCs: Moderating role of international board interlocks," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3071-3092, July.
    9. Kodongo, Odongo & Mukoki, Paul & Ojah, Kalu, 2023. "Bond market development and infrastructure-gap reduction: The case of Sub-saharan Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

    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. Machokoto, Michael & Mahonye, Nyasha & Makate, Marshall, 2022. "Short-term financing sources in Africa: Substitutes or complements?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    2. Machokoto, Michael & Areneke, Geofry, 2020. "Does innovation and financial constraints affect the propensity to save in emerging markets?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    3. Machokoto, Michael & Chipeta, Chimwemwe & Aftab, Nadeem & Areneke, Geofry, 2021. "The financial conservatism of firms in emerging economies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Michael Machokoto, 2021. "Do financial constraints really matter? A case of understudied African firms," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4670-4705, July.
    6. Brown, James R. & Petersen, Bruce C., 2015. "Which investments do firms protect? Liquidity management and real adjustments when access to finance falls sharply," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 441-465.
    7. Valcacer, Santiago & José de Moura, Heber & Lopes , David & Amorim , Vinicius, 2017. "Capital structure management differences in Latin American and US firms after 2008 crisis," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Universidad ESAN, vol. 22(42), pages 51-74.
    8. Shikimi, Masayo, 2020. "Bank loan supply shocks and leverage adjustment," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 447-460.
    9. Zeitun, Rami & Temimi, Akram & Mimouni, Karim, 2017. "Do financial crises alter the dynamics of corporate capital structure? Evidence from GCC countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 21-33.
    10. Custódio, Cláudia & Ferreira, Miguel A. & Laureano, Luís, 2013. "Why are US firms using more short-term debt?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 182-212.
    11. Qian Wang & Duowen Wu & Lina Yan, 2021. "Effect of positive tone in MD&A disclosure on capital structure adjustment speed: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5809-5845, December.
    12. Yang, Bao & Chou, Hsin-I. & Zhao, Jing, 2020. "Innovation or dividend payout: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 180-203.
    13. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2019. "Policy initiatives and firms' access to external finance: Evidence from a panel of emerging Asian economies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 162-184.
    14. Brown, James R. & Floros, Ioannis V., 2012. "Access to private equity and real firm activity: Evidence from PIPEs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 151-165.
    15. Liu, Duan & Li, Zhiyuan & He, Hongbo & Hou, Wenxuan, 2021. "The determinants of R&D smoothing with asset sales: Evidence from R&D-intensive firms in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 76-93.
    16. Ahrends, Meike & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Puhan, Tatjana Xenia, 2018. "Cyclicality of growth opportunities and the value of cash holdings," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 74-96.
    17. Marco Botta & Luca Vittorio Angelo Colombo, 2022. "Non‐linear capital structure dynamics," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(9-10), pages 1897-1928, October.
    18. Kahle, Kathleen M. & Stulz, Rene M., 2010. "Financial Policies and the Financial Crisis: How Important Was the Systemic Credit Contraction for Industrial Corporations?," Working Paper Series 2010-13, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    19. Amore, Mario Daniele & Schneider, Cédric & Žaldokas, Alminas, 2013. "Credit supply and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 835-855.
    20. Udichibarna Bose & Ronald McDonald & Serafeim Tsoukas, 2016. "Policy initiatives and Örmsíaccess to external finance: Evidence from a panel of emerging Asian economies," Working Papers 2016_18, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.

    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:jbrese:v:109:y:2020:i:c:p:26-37. 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/jbusres .

    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.