IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/prg/jnlpep/v2019y2019i5id700p499-515.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relative Importance of Country and Firm-specific Determinants of Capital Structure: A Multilevel Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Rumeysa Bilgin

Abstract

This paper evaluates the relative importance of country and firm-specific determinants of capital structure using a multilevel modelling approach. Annual data for 18,201 public and non-financial firms from 66 countries are analysed for the period 2000-2016. Variance decomposition analysis is employed in order to assess the relative importance of country and firm levels. Additionally, random intercept and random coefficient models are used to analyse direct and indirect effects of capital structure determinants. Our results showed that country and firm levels explain approximately 10% and 60% of the total variability in capital structures, respectively. This shows that managers assign a higher importance to the firm-level factors when making capital structure decisions. Also country-level variables affect leverage choices to a lower extent.

Suggested Citation

  • Rumeysa Bilgin, 2019. "Relative Importance of Country and Firm-specific Determinants of Capital Structure: A Multilevel Approach," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2019(5), pages 499-515.
    • Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2019:y:2019:i:5:id:700:p:499-515
    DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.700
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://pep.vse.cz/doi/10.18267/j.pep.700.html
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: http://pep.vse.cz/doi/10.18267/j.pep.700.pdf
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.18267/j.pep.700?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. Cheng, Shuenn-Ren & Shiu, Cheng-Yi, 2007. "Investor protection and capital structure: International evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 30-44, February.
    2. 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.
    3. Belkhir, Mohamed & Maghyereh, Aktham & Awartani, Basel, 2016. "Institutions and corporate capital structure in the MENA region," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 99-129.
    4. Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2003. "Do Better Institutions Mitigate Agency Problems? Evidence from Corporate Finance Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 185-212, March.
    5. Alves, Paulo F. Pereira & Ferreira, Miguel A., 2011. "Capital structure and law around the world," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 119-150, July.
    6. Murray Z. Frank & Vidhan K. Goyal, 2009. "Capital Structure Decisions: Which Factors Are Reliably Important?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 1-37, March.
    7. Swamy, P A V B, 1970. "Efficient Inference in a Random Coefficient Regression Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 38(2), pages 311-323, March.
    8. 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.
    9. Antoniou, Antonios & Guney, Yilmaz & Paudyal, Krishna, 2008. "The Determinants of Capital Structure: Capital Market-Oriented versus Bank-Oriented Institutions," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 59-92, March.
    10. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2012. "An International Comparison of Capital Structure and Debt Maturity Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 23-56, February.
    11. Holger Spamann, 2010. "Legal Origin, Civil Procedure, and the Quality of Contract Enforcement," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 166(1), pages 149-165, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. repec:prg:jnlpep:v:preprint:id:700:p:1-17 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Raja Zekri Ben Hamouda & Nessrine Hamzaoui & Faouzi Jilani, 2023. "Capital Structure Determinants: New Evidence from the MENA Region Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 144-163, January.
    3. Matemilola, Bolaji Tunde & Bany-Ariffin, A.N. & Azman-Saini, W.N.W. & Nassir, Annuar Md, 2019. "Impact of institutional quality on the capital structure of firms in developing countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 175-209.
    4. Quratulain Zafar & Winai Wongsurawat & David Camino, 2019. "The determinants of leverage decisions: Evidence from Asian emerging markets," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1598836-159, January.
    5. 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.
    6. Alves, Paulo & Francisco, Paulo, 2013. "The Impact of Institutional Environment in Firms´ Capital Structure during the Recent Financial Crises," MPRA Paper 51300, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Alves, Paulo & Couto, Eduardo Barbosa & Francisco, Paulo Morais, 2015. "Board of directors’ composition and capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-32.
    8. Casino-Martínez, Alejandro & López-Gracia, Jose & Mestre-Barberá, Reyes, 2023. "The regulatory environment and financial constraints of private firms in the European Union," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    9. Alves, Paulo & Francisco, Paulo, 2015. "The impact of institutional environment on the capital structure of firms during recent financial crises," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 129-146.
    10. Pindado, Julio & Requejo, Ignacio & Rivera, Juan C., 2017. "Economic forecast and corporate leverage choices: The role of the institutional environment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 121-144.
    11. Raja Zekri Ben Hamouda & Faouzi Jilani, 2023. "Impact of the Global Financial Crisis and the Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution on the Corporate Capital Structure: Evidence from Four Arab Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 124-134, November.
    12. Muradoğlu, Yaz Gülnur & Onay, Ceylan & Phylaktis, Kate, 2014. "European integration and corporate financing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 138-157.
    13. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Kostova, Gergana L., 2016. "When do peers matter? A cross-country perspective," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 8/2016, Bank of Finland.
    14. Krivogorsky, Victoria & Joh, Gun-Ho & DeBoskey, D.G., 2018. "The influence of supply side factors on firm's borrowing decisions: European evidence," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 202-222.
    15. Paulo, Alves, 2018. "Abnormal retained earnings around the world," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 63-74.
    16. İbrahim Yarba & Z. Nuray Güner, 2020. "Leverage dynamics: Do financial development and government leverage matter? Evidence from a major developing economy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 2473-2507, November.
    17. Bolaji Tunde Matemilola & Mohamed Azali, 2021. "Interaction Impact of Monetary Policy and Inflation on Corporate Debt in Developing Nations," Capital Markets Review, Malaysian Finance Association, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16.
    18. Rubi Ahmad & Oyebola Fatima Etudaiye-Muhtar, 2017. "Dynamic Model of Optimal Capital Structure: Evidence from Nigerian Listed Firms," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 18(3), pages 590-604, June.
    19. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2016_008 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. An, Zhe & Li, Donghui & Yu, Jin, 2015. "Firm crash risk, information environment, and speed of leverage adjustment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    21. Hang, Markus & Geyer-Klingeberg, Jerome & Rathgeber, Andreas W. & Stöckl, Stefan, 2018. "Measurement matters—A meta-study of the determinants of corporate capital structure," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 211-225.
    22. Temimi, Akram & Zeitun, Rami & Mimouni, Karim, 2016. "How does the tax status of a country impact capital structure? Evidence from the GCC region," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 37, pages 71-89.

    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:prg:jnlpep:v:2019:y:2019:i:5:id:700:p:499-515. 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: Stanislav Vojir (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/uevsecz.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.