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The debt of Italian non-financial firms: an international comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio De Socio

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Paolo Finaldi Russo

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

In the run-up to the financial crisis Italian firms significantly increased their debt in absolute terms and in relation to equity and GDP. The positive gap in firms� leverage between Italy and other euro-area countries has widened in recent years, despite the outstanding debt of Italian firms has decreased since 2011. In this work we document the magnitude of this gap using both aggregate macro data and firm-level information. We find that, controlling for several firm-specific characteristics (i.e. age, profitability, asset tangibility, asset liquidity, turnover growth), the leverage of Italian firms is about 10 percentage points higher than in other euro area countries. Differences are systematically larger among micro and small firms, whereas they are small and weakly significant for firms with assets above 300 million euros.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio De Socio & Paolo Finaldi Russo, 2016. "The debt of Italian non-financial firms: an international comparison," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 308, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_308_16
    as

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    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2016-0308/QEF_308_16.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio De Socio & Valentina Nigro, 2012. "Does corporate taxation affect cross-country firm leverage?," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 889, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    2. Ivo Welch, 2011. "Two Common Problems in Capital Structure Research: The Financial‐Debt‐To‐Asset Ratio and Issuing Activity Versus Leverage Changes," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Faccio, Mara & Xu, Jin, 2015. "Taxes and Capital Structure," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 277-300, June.
    4. Silvia Magri, 2014. "Does issuing equity help R&D activity? Evidence from unlisted Italian high-tech manufacturing firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(8), pages 825-854, November.
    5. Emilia Bonaccorsi di Patti & Alessio D’Ignazio & Marco Gallo & Giacinto Micucci, 2015. "The Role of Leverage in Firm Solvency: Evidence From Bank Loans," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 1(2), pages 253-286, July.
    6. 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.
    7. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    8. Silvia Magri, 2014. "Does issuing equities help R&D activity? Evidence from unlisted Italian high-tech manufacturing firms," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 978, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    9. John R. Graham & Mark T. Leary, 2011. "A Review of Empirical Capital Structure Research and Directions for the Future," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 309-345, December.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicola Branzoli & Antonella Caiumi, 2020. "How effective is an incremental ACE in addressing the debt bias? Evidence from corporate tax returns," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(6), pages 1485-1519, December.
    2. Giordano, Claire & Marinucci, Marco & Silvestrini, Andrea, 2019. "The macro determinants of firms' and households' investment: Evidence from Italy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 118-133.
    3. Antonio De Socio & Enrico Sette, 2018. "Firms’ investments during two crises," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1173, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Lucio Masserini & Matilde Bini & Alessandro Zeli, 2021. "A Longitudinal Analysis of Riskiness Indicators After the 2008 and 2011 Economic Crises: The Case of Italian Manufacturing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 499-513, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    leverage; financial structure; euro area;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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