IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joevec/v25y2015i3p561-583.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the evolution of corporate capital structures

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Arce
  • Douglas Cook
  • Robert Kieschnick

Abstract

Most, if not all, published theoretical models of capital structure decisions assume that all firms follow the same capital structure decision process or strategy. We argue that such an assumption is inconsistent with extant evidence. Instead, we argue that there is heterogeneity in the decision processes and strategies that managers follow, and that they make adaptive adjustments to their strategies that are conditioned on the choices of other firms as well as their prior choices. Using data on U.S. corporate capital structures between 1965 and 2003, we find evidence that is consistent with our proposed alternative. Our characterization of the evolution of corporate capital structures emphasizes the roles of a firm’s initial capital structure and its competitors’ capital structure strategies. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Arce & Douglas Cook & Robert Kieschnick, 2015. "On the evolution of corporate capital structures," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 561-583, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joevec:v:25:y:2015:i:3:p:561-583
    DOI: 10.1007/s00191-015-0394-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00191-015-0394-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00191-015-0394-8?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. Dirk Brounen & Abe de Jong & Kees Koedijk, 2004. "Corporate Finance in Europe: Confronting Theory with Practice," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 33(4), Winter.
    2. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2005. "Simple solutions to the initial conditions problem in dynamic, nonlinear panel data models with unobserved heterogeneity," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 39-54, January.
    3. John H. Miller & Scott E. Page, 2007. "Social Science in Between, from Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life," Introductory Chapters, in: Complex Adaptive Systems: An Introduction to Computational Models of Social Life, Princeton University Press.
    4. Blume, Lawrence E., 2003. "How noise matters," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 251-271, August.
    5. Itzhak Ben-David & John R. Graham, 2013. "Managerial Miscalibration," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(4), pages 1547-1584.
    6. Luigi Zingales, "undated". "Survival of the Fittest or the Fattest? Exit and Financing in the Trucking Industry," CRSP working papers 336, Center for Research in Security Prices, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.
    7. Esmeralda A. Ramalho & Joaquim J.S. Ramalho & José M.R. Murteira, 2011. "Alternative Estimating And Testing Empirical Strategies For Fractional Regression Models," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 19-68, February.
    8. Elyès Jouini & Clotilde Napp & Yannick Viossat, 2013. "Evolutionary Beliefs and Financial Markets," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(2), pages 727-766.
    9. Luigi Zingales, 1998. "Survival of the Fittest or the Fattest? Exit and Financing in the Trucking Industry," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(3), pages 905-938, June.
    10. Abe de Jong & Patrick Verwijmeren, 2010. "To have a target debt ratio or not: what difference does it make?," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 219-226.
    11. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5772 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. 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.
    13. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Yang, Baozhong, 2013. "The mystery of zero-leverage firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 1-23.
    14. Mark T. Leary & Michael R. Roberts, 2014. "Do Peer Firms Affect Corporate Financial Policy?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 139-178, February.
    15. Schaffer, Mark E., 1989. "Are profit-maximisers the best survivors? : A Darwinian model of economic natural selection," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 29-45, August.
    16. Papke, Leslie E. & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2008. "Panel data methods for fractional response variables with an application to test pass rates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 121-133, July.
    17. Silvia Ferrari & Francisco Cribari-Neto, 2004. "Beta Regression for Modelling Rates and Proportions," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(7), pages 799-815.
    18. Flannery, Mark J. & Rangan, Kasturi P., 2006. "Partial adjustment toward target capital structures," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 469-506, March.
    19. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1997. "Industry costs of equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 153-193, February.
    20. 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.
    21. Elias Khalil, 2009. "Natural selection and rational decision: two concepts of optimization," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 417-435, June.
    22. 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.
    23. Thomas H. Noe & Michael J. Rebello & Jun Wang, 2003. "Corporate Financing: An Artificial Agent‐based Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 943-973, June.
    24. Bradford Cornell & Richard Roll, 1981. "Strategies for Pairwise Competition in Markets and Organizations," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(1), pages 201-213, Spring.
    25. Cox, Christopher, 1996. "Nonlinear quasi-likelihood models: applications to continuous proportions," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 449-461, April.
    26. Cook, Douglas O. & Kieschnick, Robert & McCullough, B.D., 2008. "Regression analysis of proportions in finance with self selection," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 860-867, December.
    27. Chevalier, Judith A, 1995. "Capital Structure and Product-Market Competition: Empirical Evidence from the Supermarket Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 415-435, June.
    28. Papke, Leslie E & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M, 1996. "Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(K) Plan Participation Rates," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 619-632, Nov.-Dec..
    29. Brounen, D. & de Jong, A. & Koedijk, C.G., 2004. "Corporate Finance In Europe Confronting Theory With Practice," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-002-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    30. Richard Fabling & Arthur Grimes & Levente Timar, 2014. "Natural Selection: Firm Performance Following the Canterbury Earthquakes," Working Papers 14_08, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    31. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate & Jon Yan, 2011. "Overconfidence and Early‐Life Experiences: The Effect of Managerial Traits on Corporate Financial Policies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1687-1733, October.
    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. Kieschnick, Robert & Moussawi, Rabih, 2018. "Firm age, corporate governance, and capital structure choices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 597-614.

    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. Kieschnick, Robert & Moussawi, Rabih, 2018. "Firm age, corporate governance, and capital structure choices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 597-614.
    2. Gyimah, Daniel & Kwansa, Nana Abena & Kyiu, Anthony K. & Sikochi, Anywhere (Siko), 2021. "Multinationality and capital structure dynamics: A corporate governance explanation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Keefe, Michael O'Connor & Yaghoubi, Mona, 2016. "The influence of cash flow volatility on capital structure and the use of debt of different maturities," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 18-36.
    4. Cook, Douglas O. & Fu, Xudong & Tang, Tian, 2016. "Are target leverage ratios stable? Investigating the impact of corporate asset restructuring," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 150-168.
    5. G. Oka Warmana & I. Ketut Rahyuda & Ida Bagus Anom Purbawangsa & Ni Luh Gede Sri Artini, 2020. "Investigating Capital Structure Speed of Adjustment (SOA) of Indonesian Companies for Corporate Value," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 21(3), pages 215-231, September.
    6. Alexandridis, George & Antypas, Nikolaos & Gulnur, Arman & Visvikis, Ilias, 2020. "Corporate financial leverage and M&As choices: Evidence from the shipping industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. 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).
    8. Reboul, E. & Guérin, I. & Nordman, C.J., 2021. "The gender of debt and credit: Insights from rural Tamil Nadu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    9. Ho, Ly & Bai, Min & Lu, Yue & Qin, Yafeng, 2021. "The effect of corporate sustainability performance on leverage adjustments," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    10. Trung K. Do & Henry Hongren Huang & Te-Chien Lo, 2023. "Does corporate social responsibility affect leverage adjustments?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1569-1604, May.
    11. Ferrés, Daniel & Ormazabal, Gaizka & Povel, Paul & Sertsios, Giorgo, 2021. "Capital structure under collusion," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    12. 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.
    13. 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).
    14. 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.
    15. Parise, Gianpaolo, 2018. "Threat of entry and debt maturity: Evidence from airlines," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(2), pages 226-247.
    16. Kenneth Yung & Xiang Long, 2022. "CEO overconfidence and the adjustment speed of leverage and cash: evidence on cash is not the same as negative debt," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 1081-1108, August.
    17. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2015. "In search of robust methods for dynamic panel data models in empirical corporate finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 84-98.
    18. Bernard, Darren & Kaya, Devrimi & Wertz, John, 2021. "Entry and capital structure mimicking in concentrated markets: The role of incumbents’ financial disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2).
    19. Ulrike Malmendier & Vincenzo Pezone & Hui Zheng, 2023. "Managerial Duties and Managerial Biases," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(6), pages 3174-3201, June.
    20. Harald Oberhofer & Michael Pfaffermayr, 2014. "Two-Part Models for Fractional Responses Defined as Ratios of Integers," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-22, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adaptive behavior; Heterogeneous agent types; Firm dynamics; Capital structure; Fractional variables; D20; G32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:joevec:v:25:y:2015:i:3:p:561-583. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.