IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v65y2025i2p1863-1887.html

Operating flexibility and optimal capital structure

Author

Listed:
  • Narat Charupat
  • Sudipto Sarkar

Abstract

The effect of operating flexibility on leverage ratio is not clear, with papers pointing to both positive and negative relationships. Using production switching cost as a measure of operating flexibility, we show that it has two opposing effects: it increases firm value (positive) and increases cost of debt (negative), thus the overall effect is ambiguous. In general, however, the overall effect is negative and small in magnitude. It is stronger when profit margin, growth rate, tax rate, and bankruptcy cost are small, and when volatility is large. Our results help reconcile conflicting predictions in the theoretical literature with empirical findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Narat Charupat & Sudipto Sarkar, 2025. "Operating flexibility and optimal capital structure," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(2), pages 1863-1887, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:65:y:2025:i:2:p:1863-1887
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.13391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.13391
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.13391?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olga Kuzmina, 2013. "Operating Flexibility and Capital Structure: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Working Papers w0197, New Economic School (NES).
    2. Michael O'Connor Keefe & James Tate & Henk Berkman, 2013. "Is the relationship between investment and conditional cash flow volatility ambiguous, asymmetric or both?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(4), pages 913-947, December.
    3. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:1:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Hackbarth, Dirk & Miao, Jianjun & Morellec, Erwan, 2006. "Capital structure, credit risk, and macroeconomic conditions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 519-550, December.
    5. Christopher A. Hennessy & Toni M. Whited, 2007. "How Costly Is External Financing? Evidence from a Structural Estimation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1705-1745, August.
    6. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    7. Altman, Edward I, 1984. "A Further Empirical Investigation of the Bankruptcy Cost Question," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1067-1089, September.
    8. Peter Ritchken & Qi Wu, 2021. "Capacity Investment, Production Flexibility, and Capital Structure," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(12), pages 4593-4613, December.
    9. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:5:p:1443-1493 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Shumi Akhtar, 2012. "Capital structure and business cycles," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52, pages 25-48, October.
    11. 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.
    12. Arnold, Marc, 2014. "Managerial cash use, default, and corporate financial policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 305-325.
    13. Sergei A. Davydenko & Ilya A. Strebulaev & Xiaofei Zhao, 2012. "A Market-Based Study of the Cost of Default," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(10), pages 2959-2999.
    14. Hall, Bronwyn H, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Size and Firm Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 583-606, June.
    15. Mauer, David C. & Sarkar, Sudipto, 2005. "Real options, agency conflicts, and optimal capital structure," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 1405-1428, June.
    16. Byungcherl Charlie Sohn, 2012. "Equity value, implied cost of equity and shareholders’ real options," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(2), pages 519-541, June.
    17. Ni, Jian & Chu, Lap Keung & Li, Qiang, 2017. "Capacity decisions with debt financing: The effects of agency problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 261(3), pages 1158-1169.
    18. Glock, Christoph H. & Grosse, Eric H., 2021. "The impact of controllable production rates on the performance of inventory systems: A systematic review of the literature," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(3), pages 703-720.
    19. Adhikari, Ajay & Derashid, Chek & Zhang, Hao, 2006. "Public policy, political connections, and effective tax rates: Longitudinal evidence from Malaysia," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 574-595.
    20. Hayne E. Leland., 1998. "Agency Costs, Risk Management, and Capital Structure," Research Program in Finance Working Papers RPF-278, University of California at Berkeley.
    21. Sebastian J. Reinartz & Thomas Schmid, 2016. "Production Flexibility, Product Markets, and Capital Structure Decisions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(6), pages 1501-1548.
    22. 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.
    23. Dixit, Avinash K, 1989. "Entry and Exit Decisions under Uncertainty," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 620-638, June.
    24. Dan A. Iancu & Nikolaos Trichakis & Gerry Tsoukalas, 2017. "Is Operating Flexibility Harmful Under Debt?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1730-1761, June.
    25. Arnold, Marc & Wagner, Alexander F. & Westermann, Ramona, 2013. "Growth options, macroeconomic conditions, and the cross section of credit risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 350-385.
    26. Richardson, Grant & Lanis, Roman, 2007. "Determinants of the variability in corporate effective tax rates and tax reform: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 689-704.
    27. Variyam, Jayachandran N. & Kraybill, David S., 1992. "Empirical evidence on determinants of firm growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 31-36, January.
    28. Gupta, Yash P. & Goyal, Sameer, 1989. "Flexibility of manufacturing systems: Concepts and measurements," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 119-135, November.
    29. Mauer, David C & Triantis, Alexander J, 1994. "Interactions of Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions: A Dynamic Framework," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1253-1277, September.
    30. Haejun Jeon & Michi Nishihara, 2016. "The Effects of Reversible Investment on Capital Structure and Credit Risks," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 51(2), pages 263-293, May.
    31. Hagspiel, Verena & Huisman, Kuno J.M. & Kort, Peter M., 2016. "Volume flexibility and capacity investment under demand uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 95-108.
    32. Michael J. Barclay & Erwan Morellec, 2006. "On the Debt Capacity of Growth Options," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(1), pages 37-60, January.
    33. Tserlukevich, Yuri, 2008. "Can real options explain financing behavior?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 232-252, August.
    34. Peter MacKay, 2003. "Real Flexibility and Financial Structure: An Empirical Analysis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1131-1165.
    35. 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.
    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. Peter Ritchken & Qi Wu, 2021. "Capacity Investment, Production Flexibility, and Capital Structure," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(12), pages 4593-4613, December.
    2. Xue Cui & Sudipto Sarkar & Chuanqian Zhang, 2024. "Optimal capital structure with supplier market power," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(2), pages 1805-1825, June.
    3. Jianjun Miao, 2005. "Optimal Capital Structure and Industry Dynamics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2621-2659, December.
    4. Sarkar, Sudipto, 2023. "Optimal restrictiveness of a financing covenant," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Ramona Westermann, 2018. "Measuring Agency Costs over the Business Cycle," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(12), pages 5748-5768, December.
    6. Correia, Ricardo & Población, Javier, 2015. "A structural model with Explicit Distress," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 112-130.
    7. Olga Kuzmina, 2023. "Employment Flexibility and Capital Structure: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(9), pages 4992-5017, September.
    8. Hui Chen & Gustavo Manso, 2017. "Macroeconomic Risk and Debt Overhang," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(1), pages 1-38.
    9. Sarkar, Sudipto, 2014. "Product–market flexibility and capital structure," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 111-122.
    10. Childs, Paul D. & Mauer, David C. & Ott, Steven H., 2005. "Interactions of corporate financing and investment decisions: The effects of agency conflicts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 667-690, June.
    11. Guoming Lai & Peter Ritchken & Qi Wu, 2023. "On the Interplay of Production Flexibility, Capital Structure, and Investment Timing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 2106-2121, November.
    12. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Whited, Toni M., 2012. "Dynamic Models and Structural Estimation in Corporate Finance," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 6(1–2), pages 1-163, November.
    13. Morellec, Erwan & Schürhoff, Norman, 2011. "Corporate investment and financing under asymmetric information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 262-288, February.
    14. Lotfaliei, Babak, 2018. "The variance risk premium and capital structure," ESRB Working Paper Series 70, European Systemic Risk Board.
    15. Tserlukevich, Yuri, 2008. "Can real options explain financing behavior?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 232-252, August.
    16. Lotfaliei, Babak, 2018. "Zero leverage and the value in waiting to have debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 335-349.
    17. Marc Arnold & Dirk Hackbarth & Tatjana Xenia Puhan, 2018. "Financing Asset Sales and Business Cycles [Does industry-wide distress affect defaulted firms? Evidence from creditor recoveries]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(1), pages 243-277.
    18. Antonczyk, Ron Christian & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2014. "Overconfidence and optimism: The effect of national culture on capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    19. Ernest Ezeani & Rami Salem & Frank Kwabi & Khalid Boutaine & Bilal & Bushra Komal, 2022. "Board monitoring and capital structure dynamics: evidence from bank-based economies," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 473-498, February.
    20. Chen, Chang-Chih & Ho, Kung-Cheng & Yan, Cheng & Yeh, Chung-Ying & Yu, Min-Teh, 2023. "Does ambiguity matter for corporate debt financing? Theory and evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

    More about this item

    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:bla:acctfi:v:65:y:2025:i:2:p:1863-1887. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.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.