IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/16445.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

An International Comparison of Capital Structure and Debt Maturity Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph P.H. Fan
  • Sheridan Titman
  • Garry Twite

Abstract

This study examines the influence of institutional environment on capital structure and debt maturity choices by examining a cross-section of firms in 39 developed and developing countries. We find that a country's legal and tax system, the level of corruption and the preferences of capital suppliers explain a significant portion of the variation in leverage and debt maturity ratios. Our evidence indicate that firms in countries that are viewed as more corrupt tend to use less equity and more debt, especially short-term debt, while firms operating within legal systems that provide better protection for financial claimants tend to have capital structures with more equity, and relatively more long-term debt. In addition, the existence of an explicit bankruptcy code and/or deposit insurance is associated with higher leverage and more long-term debt. We also find that firms tend to use more debt in countries where there is a greater tax gain from leverage, while firms in countries with larger government bond markets have lower leverage, suggesting that government bonds tend to crowd out corporate debt. Countries with more extensive defined benefit pension funds have higher debt ratios and longer debt maturities, whereas those with more extensive defined contribution fund activities have lower debt ratios. In addition, debt ratios are lower in countries that limit the bond holdings of pension funds. Finally, we do not find a significant association between financing choices and the size of the insurance industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph P.H. Fan & Sheridan Titman & Garry Twite, 2010. "An International Comparison of Capital Structure and Debt Maturity Choices," NBER Working Papers 16445, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16445
    Note: CF
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w16445.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    2. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Government Ownership of Banks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 265-301, February.
    3. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    4. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    5. de Jong, Abe & Kabir, Rezaul & Nguyen, Thuy Thu, 2008. "Capital structure around the world: The roles of firm- and country-specific determinants," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1954-1969, September.
    6. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002. "Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, June.
    7. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐de‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 2000. "Agency Problems and Dividend Policies around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 1-33, February.
    8. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    9. Sergei A. Davydenko & Julian R. Franks, 2008. "Do Bankruptcy Codes Matter? A Study of Defaults in France, Germany, and the U.K," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 565-608, April.
    10. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2001. "Firms as financial intermediaries - evidence from trade credit data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2696, The World Bank.
    11. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 1999. "Institutions, financial markets, and firm debt maturity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 295-336, December.
    12. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Karacaovali, Baybars & Laeven, Luc, 2005. "Deposit insurance around the world : a comprehensive database," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3628, The World Bank.
    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. Brei, Michael & Ferri, Giovanni & Gambacorta, Leonardo, 2023. "Financial structure and income inequality," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Yunus Aksoy & Henrique S. Basso, 2014. "Liquidity, Term Spreads and Monetary Policy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(581), pages 1234-1278, December.
    3. Nur Ainna Ramli & Gilbert Nartea, 2016. "Mediation Effects of Firm Leverage in Malaysia: Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(1), pages 301-307.
    4. Lucey, Brian M. & Zhang, QiYu, 2011. "Financial integration and emerging markets capital structure," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1228-1238, May.
    5. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2012. "Financing of firms in developing countries : lessons from research," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6036, The World Bank.
    6. 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.
    7. Olena Oliynyk-Dunn, 2017. "Development of the Financial System and Models of Financing Agricultural Enterprises: USA Experience," Oblik i finansi, Institute of Accounting and Finance, issue 3, pages 91-99, September.
    8. Romain Cuchet & Pascal François & Georges Hübner, 2013. "Currency total return swaps: valuation and risk factor analysis," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(7), pages 1135-1148, February.
    9. Sebastian Auguste & Ricardo N. Bebczuk & Gabriel Sanchez, 2013. "Firm Size and Credit in Argentina," Research Department Publications IDB-WP-396, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    10. Jorge A. Muñoz Mendoza & Sandra M. Sepúlveda Yelpo & Carmen L. Veloso Ramos, 2019. "Non-linear Effects of Ownership Structure, Growth Opportunities and Leverage on Debt Maturity in Chilean Firms," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 14(1), pages 21-40, Enero-Mar.
    11. R. Miniaci & M. Parisi & P. Panteghini, 2014. "Debt shifting in Europe," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(3), pages 397-435, June.
    12. repec:zbw:bofitp:2018_010 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Leonardo Gambacorta & Jing Yang & Kostas Tsatsaronis, 2014. "Financial structure and growth," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, March.
    14. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2011. "Do Phoenix miracles exist ? firm-level evidence from financial crises," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5799, The World Bank.
    15. Kurronen, Sanna, 2018. "Oil price collapse and firm leverage in resource-dependent countries," BOFIT Discussion Papers 10/2018, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    16. Wang, Daphne & Esqueda, Omar A., 2014. "National cultural effects on leverage decisions: Evidence from emerging-market ADRs," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 152-177.
    17. Javier Sánchez-Vidal & Juan Francisco Martín-Ugedo, 2011. "Are the implications of the financial growth cycle confirmed for Spanish SMEs?," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 637-665, July.
    18. Bose, Udichibarna & MacDonald, Ronald & Tsoukas, Serafeim, 2015. "Policy initiatives and firms' access to external finance: Evidence from a panel of emerging Asian economies," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-65, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    19. Kuang Kuang Deng & Siu Kei Wong & Kwong Wing Chau, 2018. "Institutions and Capital Structure: The Case of Chinese Property Firms," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 352-385, April.
    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.
    21. Ramli, Nur Ainna & Latan, Hengky & Solovida, Grace T., 2019. "Determinants of capital structure and firm financial performance—A PLS-SEM approach: Evidence from Malaysia and Indonesia," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 148-160.

    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. Kirch, Guilherme & Terra, Paulo Renato Soares, 2012. "Determinants of corporate debt maturity in South America: Do institutional quality and financial development matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 980-993.
    2. Frank H. Stephen & David Urbano & Stefan van Hemmen, 2005. "The impact of institutions on entrepreneurial activity," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(7), pages 413-419.
    3. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirgüc-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2008. "How Well Do Institutional Theories Explain Firms' Perceptions of Property Rights?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(4), pages 1833-1871, July.
    4. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    5. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    6. Levine, Ross, 2005. "Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 865-934, Elsevier.
    7. David Collison & Stuart Cross & John Ferguson & David Power & Lorna Stevenson, 2012. "Legal Determinants of External Finance Revisited: The Inverse Relationship Between Investor Protection and Societal Well-Being," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 393-410, July.
    8. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    9. Ilduara Busta & Bersant Hobdari, 2015. "Board effectiveness in the European banking industry," International Journal of Corporate Governance, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(1), pages 25-41.
    10. Öztekin, Özde & Flannery, Mark J., 2012. "Institutional determinants of capital structure adjustment speeds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 88-112.
    11. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2006. "What Works in Securities Laws?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 1-32, February.
    12. An, Zhe & Li, Donghui & Yu, Jin, 2016. "Earnings management, capital structure, and the role of institutional environments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 131-152.
    13. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2012. "Financing of firms in developing countries : lessons from research," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6036, The World Bank.
    14. Stephen Bryan & Robert Nash & Ajay Patel, 2010. "How the Legal System Affects the Equity Mix in Executive Compensation," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 393-418, March.
    15. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    16. Burkart, Mike & Panunzi, Fausto, 2006. "Agency conflicts, ownership concentration, and legal shareholder protection," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 1-31, January.
    17. Thakur, Bhanu Pratap Singh & Kannadhasan, M., 2019. "Corruption and cash holdings: Evidence from emerging market economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-17.
    18. Hüttenbrink, Alexander & Oehmichen, Jana & Rapp, Marc Steffen & Wolff, Michael, 2014. "Pay-for-performance – Does one size fit all? A multi-country study of Europe and the United States," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1179-1192.
    19. Bushman, Robert M. & Smith, Abbie J., 2001. "Financial accounting information and corporate governance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 237-333, December.
    20. Sungho Choi & Bill B. Francis & Iftekhar Hasan, 2010. "Cross‐Border Bank M&As and Risk: Evidence from the Bond Market," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(4), pages 615-645, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • 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:nbr:nberwo:16445. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    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.