IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v68y2021ics1043951x21000584.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Generalized trust, personalized trust, and dynamics of capital structure: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Xia, Changyuan
  • Chan, Kam C.
  • Cao, Chunfang
  • Tan, Youchao

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of social trust on a firm's adjustment speed toward an optimal capital structure. Leveraging the availability of generalized trust and personalized trust metrics in China, we find that, as expected, when a firm is located in a high social trust region (with either generalized or personalized trust), it adjusts more quickly toward its target capital structure. Moreover, we document that the impact of generalized trust (personalized trust) on the adjustment speed is magnified if the firm already had stringent financial constraints (less-severe agency problems) but it is not related to the severity of a firm's agency problems (financial constraints). Additional analysis suggests that the impact of social trust on capital structure dynamics is primarily through debt rather than equity. Furthermore, we find that when a firm is located in a weak formal institutional environment, the impact of generalized trust on the adjustment speed strengthens, suggesting that formal institutions and generalized trust are partial substitutes. Interestingly, the substitution effect of formal institutions and personalized trust is weak. Hence, the impact of generalized trust and personalized trust on capital structure adjustment share some similarities but differ in other respects.

Suggested Citation

  • Xia, Changyuan & Chan, Kam C. & Cao, Chunfang & Tan, Youchao, 2021. "Generalized trust, personalized trust, and dynamics of capital structure: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:68:y:2021:i:c:s1043951x21000584
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101640
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X21000584
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101640?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. Hovakimian, Armen & Opler, Tim & Titman, Sheridan, 2001. "The Debt-Equity Choice," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Wang Dong & Hongling Han & Yun Ke & Kam C. Chan, 2018. "Social Trust and Corporate Misconduct: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 539-562, August.
    3. Zak, Paul J & Knack, Stephen, 2001. "Trust and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(470), pages 295-321, April.
    4. Laura Bottazzi & Marco Da Rin & Thomas Hellmann, 2016. "Editor's Choice The Importance of Trust for Investment: Evidence from Venture Capital," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(9), pages 2283-2318.
    5. Huang, Rongbing & Ritter, Jay R., 2009. "Testing Theories of Capital Structure and Estimating the Speed of Adjustment," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 237-271, April.
    6. Alberto Alesina & Eliana La Ferrara, 2000. "Participation in Heterogeneous Communities," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 847-904.
    7. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    8. Gupta, Atul & Raman, Kartik & Shang, Chenguang, 2018. "Social capital and the cost of equity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 102-117.
    9. Hollis Ashbaugh‐Skaife & Daniel W. Collins & William R. Kinney Jr & Ryan Lafond, 2009. "The Effect of SOX Internal Control Deficiencies on Firm Risk and Cost of Equity," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 1-43, March.
    10. Flannery, Mark J. & Hankins, Kristine Watson, 2013. "Estimating dynamic panel models in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 1-19.
    11. Wenfei Li & Cen Wu & Liping Xu & Qingquan Tang, 2017. "Bank connections and the speed of leverage adjustment: evidence from China's listed firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(5), pages 1349-1381, December.
    12. Ang, James S. & Cheng, Yingmei & Wu, Chaopeng, 2015. "Trust, Investment, and Business Contracting," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 569-595, June.
    13. Bolton, Patrick & Scharfstein, David S, 1990. "A Theory of Predation Based on Agency Problems in Financial Contracting," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 93-106, March.
    14. Faulkender, Michael & Flannery, Mark J. & Hankins, Kristine Watson & Smith, Jason M., 2012. "Cash flows and leverage adjustments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 632-646.
    15. Soku Byoun, 2008. "How and When Do Firms Adjust Their Capital Structures toward Targets?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 3069-3096, December.
    16. Pei Li & Leo Tang & Bikki Jaggi, 2018. "Social Capital and the Municipal Bond Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 479-501, December.
    17. Devos, Erik & Rahman, Shofiqur & Tsang, Desmond, 2017. "Debt covenants and the speed of capital structure adjustment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-18.
    18. Berger, Philip G & Ofek, Eli & Yermack, David L, 1997. "Managerial Entrenchment and Capital Structure Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1411-1438, September.
    19. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    20. Engelberg, Joseph & Gao, Pengjie & Parsons, Christopher A., 2012. "Friends with money," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 169-188.
    21. Öztekin, Özde & Flannery, Mark J., 2012. "Institutional determinants of capital structure adjustment speeds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 88-112.
    22. Chami, Ralph & Fullenkamp, Connel, 2002. "Trust and efficiency," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(9), pages 1785-1809, September.
    23. Flannery, Mark J. & Rangan, Kasturi P., 2006. "Partial adjustment toward target capital structures," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 469-506, March.
    24. Gabrielle Wanzenried, 2006. "Capital Structure Dynamics in the UK and Continental Europe," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(8), pages 693-716.
    25. La Porta, Rafael, et al, 1997. "Trust in Large Organizations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 333-338, May.
    26. L. Bottazzi & M. Da Rin & T. Hellmann, 2007. "The Importance of Trust for Investment: Evidence from Venture Capital," Working Papers 612, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    27. Chang, Ya-Kai & Chou, Robin K. & Huang, Tai-Hsin, 2014. "Corporate governance and the dynamics of capital structure: New evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 374-385.
    28. Kong, Dongmin & Pan, Yue & Tian, Gary Gang & Zhang, Pengdong, 2020. "CEOs' hometown connections and access to trade credit: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    29. Hoi, Chun Keung(Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2019. "Does social capital mitigate agency problems? Evidence from Chief Executive Officer (CEO) compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(2), pages 498-519.
    30. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    31. Cook, Douglas O. & Tang, Tian, 2010. "Macroeconomic conditions and capital structure adjustment speed," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 73-87, February.
    32. Lamont, Owen & Polk, Christopher & Saa-Requejo, Jesus, 2001. "Financial Constraints and Stock Returns," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 529-554.
    33. Walter Novaes, 2003. "Capital Structure Choice When Managers Are in Control: Entrenchment versus Efficiency," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(1), pages 49-82, January.
    34. Fuxiu Jiang & Zhan Jiang & Jicheng Huang & Kenneth A. Kim & John R. Nofsinger, 2017. "Bank Competition and Leverage Adjustments," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 46(4), pages 995-1022, December.
    35. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2004. "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 526-556, June.
    36. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun Keung & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2017. "Social Capital and Debt Contracting: Evidence from Bank Loans and Public Bonds," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 1017-1047, June.
    37. Menkhoff, Lukas & Neuberger, Doris & Rungruxsirivorn, Ornsiri, 2012. "Collateral and its substitutes in emerging markets’ lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 817-834.
    38. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    39. Kreps, David M. & Wilson, Robert, 1982. "Reputation and imperfect information," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 253-279, August.
    40. Joseph P. H. Fan & T. J. Wong & Tianyu Zhang, 2013. "Institutions and Organizational Structure: The Case of State-Owned Corporate Pyramids," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(6), pages 1217-1252, December.
    41. Mark T. Leary & Michael R. Roberts, 2005. "Do Firms Rebalance Their Capital Structures?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2575-2619, December.
    42. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    43. Greif, Avner, 1994. "Cultural Beliefs and the Organization of Society: A Historical and Theoretical Reflection on Collectivist and Individualist Societies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 912-950, October.
    44. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Abdul-Rahman Khokhar & Amin Mawani, 2018. "Linking Societal Trust and CEO Compensation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 295-317, August.
    45. DeAngelo, Harry & Masulis, Ronald W., 1980. "Optimal capital structure under corporate and personal taxation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 3-29, March.
    46. Wu, Wenfeng & Firth, Michael & Rui, Oliver M., 2014. "Trust and the provision of trade credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 146-159.
    47. Fischer, Edwin O & Heinkel, Robert & Zechner, Josef, 1989. " Dynamic Capital Structure Choice: Theory and Tests," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(1), pages 19-40, March.
    48. Khan, Muhammad Kaleem & He, Ying & Akram, Umair & Sarwar, Suleman, 2017. "Financing and monitoring in an emerging economy: Can investment efficiency be increased?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 62-77.
    49. 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.
    50. Jay Cai & Guifeng Shi, 2019. "Do Religious Norms Influence Corporate Debt Financing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 159-182, June.
    51. Douglass C. North, 2008. "Institutions and the Performance of Economies over Time," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, chapter 1, pages 21-30, Springer.
    52. Liu, Guanchun & Zhang, Chengsi, 2020. "Does financial structure matter for economic growth in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    53. Deqiu Chen & Li Li & Xuejiao Liu & Gerald J. Lobo, 2018. "Social Trust and Auditor Reporting Conservatism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 1083-1108, December.
    54. Xia, Changyuan & Cao, Chunfang & Chan, Kam C., 2017. "Social trust environment and firm tax avoidance: Evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 374-392.
    55. Li, Xiaorong & Wang, Steven Shuye & Wang, Xue, 2017. "Trust and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 74-91.
    56. Korajczyk, Robert A. & Levy, Amnon, 2003. "Capital structure choice: macroeconomic conditions and financial constraints," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 75-109, April.
    57. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    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. Xiao, He, 2022. "Environmental regulation and firm capital structure dynamics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 770-787.
    2. Chao Yan & Jiaxin Wang & Zhi Wang & Kam C. Chan, 2023. "Awe culture and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3487-3517, September.

    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. Tongxia Li & Chun Lu, 2023. "Local social environment and the speed of leverage adjustment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 1919-1952, June.
    2. Peng Huang & Yue Lu & Robert Faff, 2021. "Social trust and the speed of corporate leverage adjustment: evidence from around the globe," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 3261-3303, June.
    3. An, Zhe & Chen, Chen & Li, Donghui & Yin, Chao, 2021. "Foreign institutional ownership and the speed of leverage adjustment: International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Ho, Ly & Bai, Min & Lu, Yue & Qin, Yafeng, 2021. "The effect of corporate sustainability performance on leverage adjustments," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    5. Dang, Tung Lam & Dang, Viet Anh & Moshirian, Fariborz & Nguyen, Lily & Zhang, Bohui, 2019. "News media coverage and corporate leverage adjustments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    6. Wenlian Gao & Feifei Zhu & Kai Chen, 2023. "The role of bank lenders in firm leverage adjustments," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 63-97, February.
    7. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2014. "Asymmetric adjustment toward optimal capital structure: Evidence from a crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 226-242.
    8. Aflatooni, Abbas & Ghaderi, Kaveh & Mansouri, Kefsan, 2022. "Sanctions against Iran, political connections and speed of adjustment," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    9. Wenfei Li & Cen Wu & Liping Xu & Qingquan Tang, 2017. "Bank connections and the speed of leverage adjustment: evidence from China's listed firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(5), pages 1349-1381, December.
    10. Gu, Leilei & Liu, Zhongyang & Ma, Sichao & Wang, Hongyu, 2022. "Social trust and corporate financial asset holdings: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Shofiqur Rahman, 2020. "Credit supply and capital structure adjustments," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 949-972, December.
    12. Jiang, Xiaochen & Shen, Jim Huangnan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Chen, Chong, 2021. "Supply-side structural reform and dynamic capital structure adjustment: Evidence from Chinese-listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    13. Ding, Xiaoya (Sara) & Guo, Mengmeng & Kuai, Yicheng & Niu, Geng, 2023. "Social trust and firm innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 474-493.
    14. Niu, Yuhao & Wang, Sai & Wen, Wen & Li, Sifei, 2023. "Does digital transformation speed up dynamic capital structure adjustment? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    15. Durand, Robert B. & Greene, William H. & Harris, Mark N. & Khoo, Joye, 2022. "Heterogeneity in speed of adjustment using finite mixture models," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    16. Wu, Kai & Liu, Jiming, 2022. "Purifying political ecology: How anti-corruption campaign affects capital structure decisions?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    17. Qian Wang & Duowen Wu & Lina Yan, 2021. "Effect of positive tone in MD&A disclosure on capital structure adjustment speed: evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5809-5845, December.
    18. Giorgio Canarella & Stephen M. Miller, 2019. "Determinants of Optimal Capital Structure and Speed of Adjustment: Evidence from the U.S. ICT Sector," Working papers 2019-06, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    19. Bontempi, Maria Elena & Bottazzi, Laura & Golinelli, Roberto, 2020. "A multilevel index of heterogeneous short-term and long-term debt dynamics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    20. Devos, Erik & Rahman, Shofiqur & Tsang, Desmond, 2017. "Debt covenants and the speed of capital structure adjustment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-18.

    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:eee:chieco:v:68:y:2021:i:c:s1043951x21000584. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    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.