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The maturity structure of debt : determinants and effects on firms'performance - evidence from the United Kingdom and Italy

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Author Info
Schiantarelli, Fabio
Sembenelli, Alessandro

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Abstract

The authors empirically investigate the determinants and consequences of the maturity structure of debt, using data from a panel of UK and Italian firms. They find that in choosing a maturity structure for debt, firms'tend to match assets and liabilities. They conclude that more profitable firms'(as measured bythe ratio of cash flow to capital) tend to have more long-term debt. The data do not support the hypothesis that short-term debt, through better monitoring and control, boosts efficiency and growth -rather, the opposite can be concluded. In both countries, the data suggest a positive relationship between initial debt maturity and the firms'subsequent medium-term performance (i.e., profitability and growth in real sales). In both countries total factor productivity (TFP) depends positively on the length of debt maturity when the maturity variable is entered both contemporaneously and lagged. But in Italy the positive effect of the length of maturity on productivity is substantially reduced or even reversed when the proportion of subsidized credit increases. The authors: document the relationship between firms'characteristics and their choice of shorter or long-term debt by estimating a maturity equation and interpreting the results in light of insights from theoretical literature, and by analyzing the effects of maturity on firms'later performance in terms of profitability, growth, and productivity; assess how TFP depends on the degree of leverage and the proportion of longer and shorter-term debt; and analyze the relationship between firms'debt maturity and investment.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 1699.

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Date of creation: 31 Jan 1997
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1699

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Keywords: Municipal Financial Management; Financial Intermediation; Payment Systems&Infrastructure; Economic Theory&Research; Banks&Banking Reform; Economic Theory&Research; Municipal Financial Management; Banks&Banking Reform; Environmental Economics&Policies; Financial Intermediation;

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  1. Arellano, Manuel & Bond, Stephen, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 58(2), pages 277-97, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. 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 1421-60, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  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 323-29, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Opler, Tim C & Titman, Sheridan, 1994. " Financial Distress and Corporate Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(3), pages 1015-40, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Fabio Schiantarelli & Alessandro Sembenelli, 1995. "Form of Ownership and Financial Constraints: Panel Data Evidence from Leverage and Investment Equations," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 286., Boston College Department of Economics.
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  11. Larry Lang & Eli Ofek & Rene M. Stulz, 1995. "Leverage, Investment, and Firm Growth," NBER Working Papers 5165, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Calomiris, Charles W & Kahn, Charles M, 1991. "The Role of Demandable Debt in Structuring Optimal Banking Arrangements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(3), pages 497-513, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1995. "Debt and Seniority: An Analysis of the Role of Hard Claims in Constraining Management," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 567-85, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Barclay, Michael J & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1995. " The Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 609-31, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. " Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-400, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Christopher F. Baum & Dorothea Schäfer & Oleksandr Talavera, 2006. "The Effects of Short-Term Liabilities on Profitability: A Comparison of German and US Firms," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 636, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 14 Apr 2007. [Downloadable!]
  2. Gatti, Roberta & Love, Inessa, 2008. "Does access to credit improve productivity? Evidence from Bulgarian firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 6676, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Silvia Giannangeli & Giorgio Fagiolo & Massimo Molinari, 2008. "Financial Structure and Corporate Growth: Evidence from Italian Panel Data," LEM Papers Series 2008/17, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  4. Ignacio Munyo, 2004. "The Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from an Economy without Stock Market," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 267, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  5. Christopher F. Baum & Dorothea Schaefer & Oleksandr Talavera, 2007. "The Effects of Short-Term Liabilities on Profitability: The Case of Germany," Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference 2006 61, Money Macro and Finance Research Group. [Downloadable!]
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