IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijfss/v13y2025i3p130-d1697585.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Debt Financing Decisions on Profitability: A Comparison of USA and Europe Biopharmaceutical Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Emmanuel Nkansah

    (Jennings A. Jones College of Business, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37130, USA)

Abstract

Debt financing is important for financing major investments in the biopharmaceutical industry. Debt financing allows companies to raise funds without giving up ownership or control through indenture and covenants of the company. In this study, I analyze the effects of debt financing decisions on profitability in the biopharmaceutical industry. I find that short-term debt, long-term debt, and total debt negatively impact the return on assets (ROA) as a firm’s profitability measure. A comparison is made between American and European biopharmaceutical firms, and the result shows the negative effects of short-term and long-term debt on profitability persist more for US biopharmaceutical firms than European firms. Short-term and long-term debt both impact profitability negatively with 10-year lagged R&D intensity and financial distress. Short-term debt’s negative impact is stronger post-COVID-19, indicating increased financial strain. Long-term debt consistently affects profitability negatively, with relatively stable effects during the pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Emmanuel Nkansah, 2025. "Effects of Debt Financing Decisions on Profitability: A Comparison of USA and Europe Biopharmaceutical Industry," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijfss:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p:130-:d:1697585
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/13/3/130/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/13/3/130/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sylwia Kruk, 2021. "Impact of Capital Structure on Corporate Value—Review of Literature," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-13, April.
    2. Loderer, Claudio & Waelchli, Urs, 2010. "Firm age and performance," MPRA Paper 26450, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. 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.
    4. Allen,William A., 2019. "The Bank of England and the Government Debt," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108499835, September.
    5. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    6. Michael L. Lemmon & Michael R. Roberts & Jaime F. Zender, 2008. "Back to the Beginning: Persistence and the Cross‐Section of Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1575-1608, August.
    7. Joshua Abor, 2005. "The effect of capital structure on profitability: an empirical analysis of listed firms in Ghana," Journal of Risk Finance, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 6(5), pages 438-445, November.
    8. 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.
    9. Régis Blazy & Gisèle Umbhauer & Laurent Weill, 2008. "How Bankruptcy Punishment Influences the Ex-Ante Design of Debt Contracts?," LSF Research Working Paper Series 08-04, Luxembourg School of Finance, University of Luxembourg.
    10. Joshua Abor, 2005. "The effect of capital structure on profitability: an empirical analysis of listed firms in Ghana," Journal of Risk Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(5), pages 438-445, December.
    11. José López-Gracia & Francisco Sogorb-Mira, 2008. "Testing trade-off and pecking order theories financing SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 117-136, August.
    12. 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.
    13. Fosu, Samuel, 2013. "Capital structure, product market competition and firm performance: Evidence from South Africa," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 140-151.
    14. Samuel Fosu, 2013. "Capital Structure, Product Market Competition and Firm Performance: Evidence from South Africa," Discussion Papers in Economics 13/11, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    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. Kanwal Iqbal Khan & Faisal Qadeer & Mário Nuno Mata & José Chavaglia Neto & Qurat ul An Sabir & Jéssica Nunes Martins & José António Filipe, 2021. "Core Predictors of Debt Specialization: A New Insight to Optimal Capital Structure," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-25, April.
    2. Steklá, Jana & Gryčová, M. & Homolka, J., 2015. "Evaluation of Capital Structure of Agricultural Cooperatives," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 7(3), pages 1-12, September.
    3. Sultan Sikandar Mirza & Tanveer Ahsan & Raheel Safdar & Ajid Ur Rehman, 2020. "Competition, Debt Maturity, and Adjustment Speed in China: A Dynamic Fractional Estimation Approach," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Lee, Lillian & Chowdhury, Anup & Shubita, Moade, 2023. "Impact of Paris Agreement on financing strategy: Evidence from global FPSO industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Rajesh Desai, 2024. "Nexus Between Debt Financing and Market Value Moderated by Firm Size: Panel Data Evidence from India," Vision, , vol. 28(5), pages 633-644, November.
    6. 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.
    7. Hariem Abdullah & Turgut Tursoy, 2021. "Capital structure and firm performance: evidence of Germany under IFRS adoption," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 379-398, February.
    8. 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.
    9. An, Zhe & Li, Donghui & Yu, Jin, 2016. "Earnings management, capital structure, and the role of institutional environments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 131-152.
    10. Le, Thi Phuong Vy & Phan, Thi Bich Nguyet, 2017. "Capital structure and firm performance: Empirical evidence from a small transition country," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 710-726.
    11. Matthew Adeolu Abata & Stephen Oseko Migiro & Joseph Olorunfemi Akande & Raredzo Layton, 2017. "Does Capital Structure Impact on the Performance of South African Listed Firms?," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 13(6), pages 334-350, DECEMBER.
    12. Phuong Dung Thi Nguyen & Thanh Nhan Thi Do & Michael Joseph Dempsey, 2019. "The Determinants of Capital Structure: New Evidence from Listed Companies in Vietnam," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 67(6), pages 1587-1595.
    13. Alnori, Faisal & Alqahtani, Faisal, 2019. "Capital structure and speed of adjustment in non-financial firms: Does sharia compliance matter? Evidence from Saudi Arabia," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 50-67.
    14. Aleksandra Stoiljković & Slavica Tomić & Bojan Leković & Milenko Matić, 2022. "Determinants of Capital Structure: Empirical Evidence of Manufacturing Companies in the Republic of Serbia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Bandyopadhyay, Arindam & Barua, Nandita Malini, 2016. "Factors determining capital structure and corporate performance in India: Studying the business cycle effects," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 160-172.
    16. Faisal Seraj Alnori & Ali Mohsen Shaddady, 2019. "Corporate Debt Choice and Board Size: The Case of Oil Exporting Economy," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 9(5), pages 1-6.
    17. Espenlaub, Susanne & Khurshed, Arif & Neufeld, Anna, 2025. "Loan amendments and capital structure," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Manuel Armada & Paulo Nunes, 2011. "Pecking Order Theory versus Trade-Off Theory: are service SMEs’ capital structure decisions different?," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 5(4), pages 381-409, December.
    19. Maria Angelina Valadares Silva & António Melo Cerqueira & Elísio Brandão, 2017. "The Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from Non-financial Listed German Companies," FEP Working Papers 588, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jijfss:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p:130-:d:1697585. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.