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Culture, agency costs, and governance: International evidence on capital structure

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  • Fauver, Larry
  • McDonald, Michael B.

Abstract

We examine social characteristics (individualism and risk aversion) and their interaction with firm governance and capital structure across the G20 countries from 1995 to 2009 using roughly 13,000 firms. We show that higher levels of individualism are associated with increased firm use of debt and lower cost of capital, whereas higher risk aversion has the opposite effects. Better firm-level governance substantially reduces these cultural effects, as does larger firm size, and less research-intensity at the firm. The results show that capital structure in emerging markets is considerably less affected by national culture relative to developed countries. To address endogeneity concerns, we show our results hold after using a propensity score matching procedure.

Suggested Citation

  • Fauver, Larry & McDonald, Michael B., 2015. "Culture, agency costs, and governance: International evidence on capital structure," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:1-23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2015.05.001
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    5. Robert W Faff & Stephen Gray & Kelvin Jui Keng Tan, 2016. "A contemporary view of corporate finance theory, empirical evidence and practice," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(4), pages 662-686, November.
    6. Haifeng Hu & Minjing Qi, 2022. "New Evidence on National Culture and Corporate Financing: Does Institutional Quality Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-24, October.
    7. Vo, Xuan Vinh & Ellis, Craig, 2017. "An empirical investigation of capital structure and firm value in Vietnam," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 90-94.
    8. Huang, Ying Sophie & Li, Mengyu, 2019. "Are overconfident executives alike? overconfident executives and compensation structure: Evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 434-449.
    9. Maurizio Rocca & Neha Neha & Tiziana Rocca, 2020. "Female management, overconfidence and debt maturity: European evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 713-747, September.
    10. Charl de Villiers & Jing Jia & Zhongtian Li, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility: A review of empirical research using Thomson Reuters Asset4 data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4523-4568, December.
    11. Alves, Paulo, 2018. "Cash holdings around the world: Financial crisis, culture and shareholder rights," MPRA Paper 89861, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    12. Fauver, Larry & Hung, Mingyi & Li, Xi & Taboada, Alvaro G., 2017. "Board reforms and firm value: Worldwide evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 120-142.
    13. Soon Suk Yoon & Hyo Jin Kim & Hongbok Lee & Doug Waggle, 2017. "Financing preferences: evidence from the Korean market," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(44), pages 4501-4520, September.
    14. Oderson Panosso & Gleice Carvalho de Lima Moreno & Tarcisio Pedro da Silva & Luciano Castro de Carvalho, 2022. "Culture of Individualism and Uncertainty Avoidance in the G20 Countries’ Industries: An Analysis of Capital Structure and Performance," Revista Finanzas y Politica Economica, Universidad Católica de Colombia, vol. 14(2), pages 513-539, June.
    15. Houda Qasim Aleqedat & Sara Zakaria AL-Rawash, 2020. "International Journal of Business and Social Research (IJBSR)7The Impacts of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Ownership Structure on Dividend Policy of Financial Sectors in Jordan," Journal of Business, LAR Center Press, vol. 5(1), pages 07-25, January.
    16. Linnenluecke, Martina K. & Chen, Xiaoyan & Ling, Xin & Smith, Tom & Zhu, Yushu, 2016. "Emerging trends in Asia-Pacific finance research: A review of recent influential publications and a research agenda," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 66-76.

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    Keywords

    Capital structure; Culture; Agency costs; Governance; International;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • F39 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Other

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