IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v80y2021icp614-626.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Joint analysis of the non-linear debt-growth nexus and capital account liberalization: New evidence from sub-Saharan region

Author

Listed:
  • Khémiri, Wafa
  • Noubbigh, Hédi

Abstract

This paper conducts an empirical investigation of the debt-growth nexus at firm level. We exploit a panel of sub-Saharan firms observed over the period 2004–2014 to jointly assess the impact of debt and financial liberalization on firm growth measured in terms of sales. Using a system GMM estimator, we find an inverted U-shaped relationship between debt and firm growth. However, the form of this relationship was reversed (U-shaped) by examining the joint effect of debt and capital account liberalization. This change results from the adoption of the policy of financial liberalization put in place by the regulatory authorities of the sub-Saharan countries. In addition, our results show that investment impact firm growth. Consequently, agency and trade-off theories are admitted. These findings may yield important policy implications. Policy makers must optimize financial decisions and adopt a gradual financial liberalization policy, thus ensuring the survival of sub-Saharan firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2021. "Joint analysis of the non-linear debt-growth nexus and capital account liberalization: New evidence from sub-Saharan region," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 614-626.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:80:y:2021:i:c:p:614-626
    DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2021.04.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976921000703
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.qref.2021.04.009?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. Coricelli, Fabrizio & Driffield, Nigel & Pal, Sarmistha & Roland, Isabelle, 2012. "When does leverage hurt productivity growth? A firm-level analysis," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1674-1694.
    2. 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.
    3. Boubakri, Narjess & Saffar, Walid, 2016. "Culture and externally financed firm growth," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 502-520.
    4. 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.
    5. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    6. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    7. Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2000. "Capital Market Liberalization, Economic Growth, and Instability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1075-1086, June.
    8. Bradley, Michael & Jarrell, Gregg A & Kim, E Han, 1984. "On the Existence of an Optimal Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 857-878, July.
    9. Evans, David S, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Growth, Size, and Age: Estimates for 100 Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 567-581, June.
    10. Sophia Dimelis & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Helen Louri, 2019. "Banking Concentration And Firm Growth: The Role Of Size, Location And Financial Crisis," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 428-438, July.
    11. Blandina Oliveira & Adelino Fortunato, 2006. "Firm Growth and Liquidity Constraints: A Dynamic Analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 139-156, October.
    12. Hasan Ayaydın & Pınar Hayaloglu, 2014. "The Effect of Corruption on Firm Growth: Evidence from Firms in Turkey," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(5), pages 607-624.
    13. Quader, Syed Manzur, 2017. "Differential effect of liquidity constraints on firm growth," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 20-29.
    14. Bekaert, Geert & Harvey, Campbell R. & Lundblad, Christian, 2005. "Does financial liberalization spur growth?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 3-55, July.
    15. 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.
    16. Vicente Galbis, 1993. "High Real Interest Rates Under Financial Liberalization: Is there a Problem?," IMF Working Papers 1993/007, International Monetary Fund.
    17. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    18. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    19. Hasan Ayaydin & Pinar Hayaloglu, 2014. "The Effect of Corruption on Firm Growth: Evidence from Firms in Turkey," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(5), pages 607-624, May.
    20. Mertzanis, Charilaos & Basuony, Mohamed A.K. & Mohamed, Ehab K.A., 2019. "Social institutions, corporate governance and firm-performance in the MENA region," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 75-96.
    21. 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.
    22. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    23. 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.
    24. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    25. 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.
    26. Park, Haehean & Lee, Po-sang & Park, Yun W., 2020. "Information asymmetry and the effect of financial openness on firm growth and wage in emerging markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 901-916.
    27. Sorin Gabriel ANTON, 2016. "The Impact Of Leverage On Firm Growth. Empirical Evidence From Romanian Listed Firms," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 18, pages 147-158, December.
    28. Laurence Booth & Varouj Aivazian & Asli Demirguc‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2001. "Capital Structures in Developing Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 87-130, February.
    29. Ghosh, Saibal, 2006. "Did financial liberalization ease financing constraints? Evidence from Indian firm-level data," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 176-190, June.
    30. Guariglia, Alessandra, 2008. "Internal financial constraints, external financial constraints, and investment choice: Evidence from a panel of UK firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1795-1809, September.
    31. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2016. "Innovation and firm growth: Does firm age play a role?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 387-400.
    32. Amarjit Gill & Neil Mathur, 2011. "Factors that Affect Potential Growth of Canadian Firms," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 1(4), pages 1-4.
    33. Robert E. Carpenter & Bruce C. Petersen, 2002. "Is The Growth Of Small Firms Constrained By Internal Finance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 298-309, May.
    34. Kraus, Alan & Litzenberger, Robert H, 1973. "A State-Preference Model of Optimal Financial Leverage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 28(4), pages 911-922, September.
    35. Huynh, Kim P. & Petrunia, Robert J., 2010. "Age effects, leverage and firm growth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1003-1013, May.
    36. Arayssi, Mahmoud & Fakih, Ali, 2017. "Finance–growth nexus in a changing political region: How important was the Arab Spring?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 106-123.
    37. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    38. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2018. "Determinants of capital structure: Evidence from sub-Saharan African firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 150-159.
    39. Molinari, Massimo, 2013. "Joint analysis of the non-linear debt–growth nexus and cash-flow sensitivity: New evidence from Italy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 34-44.
    40. Fan, Pengda, 2019. "Debt retirement at IPO and firm growth," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 1-16.
    41. Wu, Xueping & Au Yeung, Chau Kin, 2012. "Firm growth type and capital structure persistence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3427-3443.
    42. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    43. Gebauer, Stefan & Setzer, Ralph & Westphal, Andreas, 2018. "Corporate debt and investment: A firm-level analysis for stressed euro area countries," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 112-130.
    44. Carlos Carreira & Filipe Silva, 2010. "No Deep Pockets: Some Stylized Empirical Results On Firms’ Financial Constraints," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 731-753, September.
    45. Rahaman, Mohammad M., 2011. "Access to financing and firm growth," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 709-723, March.
    46. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2020. "Does sub-Saharan Africa overinvest? Evidence from a panel of non-financial firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 118-130.
    47. 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.
    48. Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Enrica Detragiache, 1998. "The Determinants of Banking Crises in Developing and Developed Countries," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 45(1), pages 81-109, 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. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2020. "Does sub-Saharan Africa overinvest? Evidence from a panel of non-financial firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 118-130.
    2. Zhang, Dongyang & Liu, Deqiang, 2017. "Determinants of the capital structure of Chinese non-listed enterprises: Is TFP efficient?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 179-202.
    3. Khémiri, Wafa & Noubbigh, Hédi, 2018. "Determinants of capital structure: Evidence from sub-Saharan African firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 150-159.
    4. Canarella, Giorgio & Miller, Stephen M., 2018. "The determinants of growth in the U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) industry: A firm-level analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 259-271.
    5. Didier, Tatiana & Levine, Ross & Llovet Montanes, Ruth & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2021. "Capital market financing and firm growth," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Martinsson, Gustav, 2009. "Finance and R&D Investments - is there a debt overhang effect on R&D investments?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 174, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    8. Quader, Syed Manzur, 2017. "Differential effect of liquidity constraints on firm growth," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 20-29.
    9. Fabio Bertoni & María Ferrer & José Martí, 2013. "The different roles played by venture capital and private equity investors on the investment activity of their portfolio firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 607-633, April.
    10. Mário Santos & António Moreira & Elisabete Vieira, 2014. "Ownership concentration, contestability, family firms, and capital structure," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(4), pages 1063-1107, November.
    11. Syed Manzur Quader, 2017. "Differential effect of liquidity constraints on firm growth," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 20-29, January.
    12. Bahadır Ergün & Ömer Tuğsal Doruk, 2020. "Effect of financial constraints on the growth of family and nonfamily firms in Turkey," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, December.
    13. Vijayakumaran, Ratnam, 2021. "Impact of managerial ownership on investment and liquidity constraints: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    14. Milos Markovic & Michael A. Stemmer, 2017. "Firm Growth Dynamics and Financial Constraints: Evidence from Serbian Firms," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 17012, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    15. Dang, Viet Anh & Kim, Minjoo & Shin, Yongcheol, 2012. "Asymmetric capital structure adjustments: New evidence from dynamic panel threshold models," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 465-482.
    16. 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.
    17. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Merikas, Andreas & Schröder, Henning, 2013. "Capital structure decisions of globally-listed shipping companies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 49-76.
    18. Elena Alexandra Nenu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2018. "The Impact of Capital Structure on Risk and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence for the Bucharest Stock Exchange Listed Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-29, April.
    19. 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.
    20. Ricardo Bebczuk & Eduardo Cavallo, 2016. "Is business saving really none of our business?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(24), pages 2266-2284, May.

    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:80:y:2021:i:c:p:614-626. 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.