IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v67y2018icp138-148.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate governance and cost of debt financing: Empirical evidence from Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Ghouma, Hatem
  • Ben-Nasr, Hamdi
  • Yan, Ruiqian

Abstract

We explore the impact of the Globe and Mail corporate governance index on bond spreads in a sample of Canadian listed companies. The index is composed of four sub-indices—board composition/structure, board compensation, shareholder rights, and disclosure—assessing the quality of the firm’s governance. Our empirical findings point to a decrease in the bond spreads for an improvement of the overall quality of the corporate governance index. When we analyze the impact of each of the sub-indices, only the quality of the board composition/structure as well as the disclosure quality seems to matter to bondholders. We interpret our finding within the Canadian “comply or disclose” approach to governance where more responsibility is put on investors to assess and judge the quality of the governance practices. In such context, bondholders value stronger boards (in terms of composition as well structured board can mitigate agency problems), and are also particularly concerned with the quality of the firms’ disclosure policies (to reduce information asymmetry). In addition to the Board Composition and the Disclosure sub-indexes, we also find a significant negative relationship between shareholder rights sub-index and the cost of debt for issuers headquartered in Quebec. Only in Quebec, features that protect shareholders from the managers (and major shareholders)’ potential misbehavior seem to reduce the cost of debt. This might be due to the lower confidence that bondholders have in the Quebec French-Common-Law-based jurisdiction even after the adoption of the new Quebec Business Corporations Act in 2011.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghouma, Hatem & Ben-Nasr, Hamdi & Yan, Ruiqian, 2018. "Corporate governance and cost of debt financing: Empirical evidence from Canada," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 138-148.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:67:y:2018:i:c:p:138-148
    DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2017.06.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976916301442
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.qref.2017.06.004?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. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1989. "Management entrenchment : The case of manager-specific investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 123-139, November.
    2. Boubakri, Narjess & Ghouma, Hatem, 2010. "Control/ownership structure, creditor rights protection, and the cost of debt financing: International evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2481-2499, October.
    3. Ertugrul, Mine & Hegde, Shantaram, 2008. "Board compensation practices and agency costs of debt," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 512-531, December.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Fodil Adjaoud & Walid Ben-Amar, 2010. "Corporate Governance and Dividend Policy: Shareholders' Protection or Expropriation?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5-6), pages 648-667.
    7. 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.
    8. Roosenboom, Peter & van der Goot, Tjalling & Mertens, Gerard, 2003. "Earnings management and initial public offerings: Evidence from the Netherlands," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 243-266.
    9. 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.
    10. Ghouma, Hatem, 2017. "How does managerial opportunism affect the cost of debt financing?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 13-29.
    11. JULES H. Van BINSBERGEN & JOHN R. GRAHAM & JIE YANG, 2010. "The Cost of Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(6), pages 2089-2136, December.
    12. Ashbaugh-Skaife, Hollis & Collins, Daniel W. & LaFond, Ryan, 2006. "The effects of corporate governance on firms' credit ratings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 203-243, October.
    13. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    14. Chen-Lung Chin & Tyrone T. Lin & Chia-Chi Lee, 2005. "Convertible Bonds Issuance Terms, Management Forecasts, and Earnings Management: Evidence from Taiwan Market," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(03), pages 543-571.
    15. Anderson, Ronald C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Reeb, David M., 2004. "Board characteristics, accounting report integrity, and the cost of debt," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 315-342, September.
    16. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    17. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    18. Paige Fields, L. & Fraser, Donald R. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2012. "Board quality and the cost of debt capital: The case of bank loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1536-1547.
    19. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. 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.
    21. 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.
    22. Schauten, M.B.J. & van Dijk, D.J.C., 2010. "Corporate Governance and the Cost of Debt of Large European Firms," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2010-025-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    23. Ying Lin & Kenneth Yung, 2014. "Earnings management and corporate spinoffs," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 275-300, August.
    24. Peter Klein & Daniel Shapiro & Jeffrey Young, 2005. "Corporate Governance, Family Ownership and Firm Value: the Canadian evidence," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(6), pages 769-784, November.
    25. Erickson, Merle & Wang, Shiing-wu, 1999. "Earnings management by acquiring firms in stock for stock mergers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 149-176, April.
    26. Carmen Lorca & Juan Sánchez-Ballesta & Emma García-Meca, 2011. "Board Effectiveness and Cost of Debt," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(4), pages 613-631, June.
    27. Klock, Mark S. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Maxwell, William F., 2005. "Does Corporate Governance Matter to Bondholders?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 693-719, December.
    28. Siew Hong Teoh & Ivo Welch & T.J. Wong, 1998. "Earnings Management and the Long-Run Market Performance of Initial Public Offerings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 53(6), pages 1935-1974, December.
    29. Bozec, Yves & Rousseau, Stephane & Laurin, Claude, 2008. "Law of incorporation and firm ownership structure: The law and finance theory revisited," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 140-149, June.
    30. Teoh, Siew Hong & Welch, Ivo & Wong, T. J., 1998. "Earnings management and the underperformance of seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 63-99, October.
    31. Sanjeev Bhojraj & Partha Sengupta, 2003. "Effect of Corporate Governance on Bond Ratings and Yields: The Role of Institutional Investors and Outside Directors," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(3), pages 455-476, July.
    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. Li, Shuangyan & Fu, Huan & Wen, Jun & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2020. "Separation of ownership and control for Chinese listed firms: Effect on the cost of debt and the moderating role of bank competition," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Qian Long Kweh & Irene Wei Kiong Ting & Hanh Thi My Le & Mohammad Nourani, 2021. "Nonlinear impacts of board independence on debt financing: Contingent on the shareholdings of the largest shareholder," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2289-2306, April.
    3. Usman Muhammad & Farooq Muhammad Umar & Zhang Junrui & Sun Junqin & Makki Muhammad Abdul Majid, 2019. "She-E-Os and the Cost of Debt: Do Female CEOs Pay Less for Credit?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-7, January.
    4. Zhitao, Wang & Xiang, Ma, 2023. "Financial mismatch on corporate debt default risk: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Qiankun Meng & Yupei Liu & Wei’an Li & Mingshan Yu, 2023. "Bonding or Indulgence? The Role of Overborrowing on Firms’ Innovation: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, January.
    6. Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Yoshino, Naoyuki, 2019. "The way to induce private participation in green finance and investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 98-103.
    7. Zeineb Ouni & Jamal Ben Mansour & Sana Arfaoui, 2022. "Corporate Governance and Financial Performance: The Interplay of Board Gender Diversity and Intellectual Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Ankur Shukla & N. Sivasankaran & Shilpee A Dasgupta, 2018. "Do Board Characteristics Impact the Market Performance of Indian Banks?," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 8(11), pages 1365-1383, November.
    9. Ooi Kok Loang, 2023. "Corporate Governance and Islamic Behavioural Finance: A Review from Malaysia and GCC Countries," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 16(1), pages 28-51, June.
    10. Díaz, Antonio & Escribano, Ana, 2021. "Sustainability premium in energy bonds," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    11. Choi, Wonseok & Rabarison, Monika K. & Wang, Bin, 2021. "Independent directors’ dissensions and firm value," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 258-271.
    12. Zerbib, Olivier David, 2019. "The effect of pro-environmental preferences on bond prices: Evidence from green bonds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 39-60.
    13. Cao, Shijiao & Wang, Jianqiong & Zhou, Jianan, 2022. "Pricing like things alike: The role of financial statement comparability in bond pricing," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 428-447.
    14. Xu, Xiaodong & Mu, Yayu & Wang, Juan, 2023. "Corporate risk and financial asset holdings," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Li, Bin & Liang, Yilan & Shahab, Yasir & Gull, Ammar Ali & Ashraf, Naeem, 2022. "Parent-subsidiary dispersion, cost of debt and debt default: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    16. Peng, Wei & Xiong, Langyu, 2022. "Managing financing costs and fostering green transition: The role of green financial policy in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 820-836.

    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. Qian Long Kweh & Irene Wei Kiong Ting & Hanh Thi My Le & Mohammad Nourani, 2021. "Nonlinear impacts of board independence on debt financing: Contingent on the shareholdings of the largest shareholder," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2289-2306, April.
    2. Ghouma, Hatem, 2017. "How does managerial opportunism affect the cost of debt financing?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 13-29.
    3. 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.
    4. Ge, Wenxia & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Song, Byron Y., 2012. "Internal governance, legal institutions and bank loan contracting around the world," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 413-432.
    5. Dan Yang & Linyin Cheng & Guojun Wang & Yuetang Wang & Lu Zhang, 2020. "Investor protection and cost of debt: Evidence from dividend commitment in firm bylaws," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 294-308, September.
    6. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    7. Mohd Saad, Noriza & Haniff, Mohd Nizal & Ali, Norli, 2020. "Corporate governance mechanisms with conventional bonds and Sukuk’ yield spreads," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    8. Agrawal, Ashwini K., 2009. "The Impact of Investor Protection Law on Corporate Policy: Evidence from the Blue Sky Laws," MPRA Paper 16351, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Ampenberger, Markus & Schmid, Thomas & Achleitner, Ann-Kristin & Kaserer, Christoph, 2009. "Capital structure decisions in family firms: empirical evidence from a bank-based economy," CEFS Working Paper Series 2009-05, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    10. Maung, Min & Shedden, Myles & Wang, Yuan & Wilson, Craig, 2019. "The investment environment and cross-border merger and acquisition premiums," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 19-35.
    11. Alves, Carlos F. & Barbot, Cristina, 2007. "Do low cost carriers have different corporate governance models?," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 116-120.
    12. Attiya Y. Javed & Robina Iqbal, 2007. "The Relationship between Corporate Governance Indicators and Firm Value : A Case Study of Karachi Stock Exchange," Governance Working Papers 22198, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    13. Anderson, Anne & Gupta, Parveen P., 2009. "A cross-country comparison of corporate governance and firm performance: Do financial structure and the legal system matter?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 61-79.
    14. 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.
    15. Ormazabal, Gaizka, 2018. "The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research," CEPR Discussion Papers 12775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Anastasia N. Stepanova & Olga O. Kopyrina, 2019. "The Influence Of Ownership Structure And Board Independence On The Cost Of Debt In Bric Countries," HSE Working papers WP BRP 74/FE/2019, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    17. Kusnadi, Yuanto, 2011. "Do corporate governance mechanisms matter for cash holdings and firm value?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 554-570, November.
    18. Javid, Attiya Yasmin & Iqbal, Robina, 2008. "Does Corporate Governance Effects Firm Performance in Case of Pakistani Market," MPRA Paper 37567, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Dong Chen, 2014. "The Non-monotonic Effect of Board Independence on Credit Ratings," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 145-171, April.
    20. Xiaoyan Chen, 2015. "The determinants behind Chinese companies’ incremental equity issue decisions," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 40(4), pages 701-723, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    G34; G38; F34; Corporate governance; Bond yields; Board of directors; Globe and Mail governance score;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems

    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:eee:quaeco:v:67:y:2018:i:c:p:138-148. 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/inca/620167 .

    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.