IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/epolin/v52y2025i1d10.1007_s40812-024-00299-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The moderating effect of firm age on capital structure choices: evidence from emerging markets

Author

Listed:
  • Bolaji Tunde Matemilola

    (Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang)

  • Ploypailin Kijkasiwat

    (Khon Kaen University)

  • Chee Yoong Liew

    (UCSI University Malaysia)

Abstract

This research analyses how a firm’s age moderates the link between emerging market firm characteristics such as their profitability, firm size, asset tangibility, and their financing decisions (i.e., the level of leverage undertaken by these firms). Our empirical analysis reveals more evidence that firm age, as a firm-specific factor, not only amplifies the negative influence of profitability on leverage but also reinforces the adverse relationship between firm size and leverage. In addition, we also found that firm age weakens the positive relationship between asset tangibility and leverage. This research contributes to the corporate finance, corporate governance and emerging market finance literature by analysing how firm age influences the effects of emerging market firm characteristics. Additionally, this study contributes to the growing literature on the determinants of the gearing of firms, particularly on the role of firm-specific factors in explaining the variation in firms’ leverage.

Suggested Citation

  • Bolaji Tunde Matemilola & Ploypailin Kijkasiwat & Chee Yoong Liew, 2025. "The moderating effect of firm age on capital structure choices: evidence from emerging markets," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 52(1), pages 177-199, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolin:v:52:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s40812-024-00299-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s40812-024-00299-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40812-024-00299-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40812-024-00299-z?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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Pravish Kumar Nunkoo & Agyenim Boateng, 2010. "The empirical determinants of target capital structure and adjustment to long-run target: evidence from Canadian firms," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(10), pages 983-990.
    4. Wei Jiang, 2017. "Have Instrumental Variables Brought Us Closer to the Truth," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 127-140.
    5. Nguyen, Trang & Alpert, Karen & Faff, Robert, 2021. "Relative bond-stock liquidity and capital structure choices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Patrik Bauer, 2004. "Determinants of Capital Structure: Empirical Evidence from the Czech Republic," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 54(1-2), pages 2-21, January.
    7. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Phan, Dinh Hoang Bach & Liu, Guangqiang & Ibrahim, Mansor, 2021. "Ethical investing and capital structure," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    8. Satish Kumar & Sisira Colombage & Purnima Rao, 2017. "Research on capital structure determinants: a review and future directions," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(2), pages 106-132, April.
    9. Murray Z. Frank & Vidhan K. Goyal, 2009. "Capital Structure Decisions: Which Factors Are Reliably Important?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 38(1), pages 1-37, March.
    10. 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.
    11. Naveenan Ramaian Vasantha & Chee Yoong Liew & Ploypailin Kijkasiwat, 2023. "Exploring financial inclusion in MENA countries: an entropy weight approach," International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(6), pages 1219-1247, August.
    12. 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.
    13. Alter, Adrian & Elekdag, Selim, 2020. "Emerging market corporate leverage and global financial conditions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    14. Chee Yoong Liew & Young Kyung Ko & Bee Lian Song & Saraniah Thechina Murthy, 2021. "Directors' remuneration, expropriation and firm performance in Malaysia: evidence from non-executive directors' service duration within the remuneration committee," International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 28(1/2), pages 117-147.
    15. Miguel Angel Acedo-Ramirez & Juan Carlos Ayala Calvo & Ernesto Navarrete-Martinez, 2017. "Determinants of Capital Structure: Family Businesses versus Non-Family Firms," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 67(2), pages 80-103, April.
    16. 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.
    17. Maja Pervan & Ivica Pervan & Marijana Ćurak, 2019. "Determinants of firm profitability in the Croatian manufacturing industry: evidence from dynamic panel analysis," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 968-981, January.
    18. Senthil Kumar Muthusamy & Ramadevi Kannan, 2023. "Profits crisis: evolving patterns of firm size and performance in traditional U.S. industries," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(3), pages 575-603, September.
    19. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2014. "The Life Cycle of Plants in India and Mexico," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1035-1084.
    20. 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.
    21. Frank, Murray Z. & Goyal, Vidhan K., 2003. "Testing the pecking order theory of capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 217-248, February.
    22. Kieschnick, Robert & Moussawi, Rabih, 2018. "Firm age, corporate governance, and capital structure choices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 597-614.
    23. Kim, E Han, 1978. "A Mean-Variance Theory of Optimal Capital Structure and Corporate Debt Capacity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 33(1), pages 45-63, March.
    24. 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.
    25. Yifei Cao & Kemar Whyte, 2023. "Corporate tax-shields and capital structure: leveling the playing field in debt vs equity finance," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(15), pages 1716-1735, October.
    26. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Titman, Sheridan & Twite, Garry, 2012. "An International Comparison of Capital Structure and Debt Maturity Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 23-56, February.
    27. Matemilola, Bolaji Tunde & Bany-Ariffin, A.N. & Azman-Saini, W.N.W. & Nassir, Annuar Md, 2019. "Impact of institutional quality on the capital structure of firms in developing countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 175-209.
    28. César Camisón & José Antonio Clemente & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 2022. "Asset tangibility, information asymmetries and intangibles as determinants of family firms leverage," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(7), pages 2047-2082, October.
    29. Alves, Paulo F. Pereira & Ferreira, Miguel A., 2011. "Capital structure and law around the world," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 119-150, July.
    30. Satish Kumar & Sisira Colombage & Purnima Rao, 2017. "Research on capital structure determinants: a review and future directions," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(2), pages 106-132, April.
    31. HARRY DeANGELO & RICHARD ROLL, 2015. "How Stable Are Corporate Capital Structures?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(1), pages 373-418, February.
    32. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    33. Shahzad, Farrukh & Ahmad, Munir & Fareed, Zeeshan & Wang, Zhenkun, 2022. "Innovation decisions through firm life cycle: A new evidence from emerging markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 51-67.
    34. James Agyei & Shaorong Sun & Eugene Abrokwah, 2020. "Trade-Off Theory Versus Pecking Order Theory: Ghanaian Evidence," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    35. ElBannan, Mona A., 2017. "Stock market liquidity, family ownership, and capital structure choices in an emerging country," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 201-231.
    36. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:1:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    37. Diamond, Douglas W, 1989. "Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 828-862, August.
    38. 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.
    39. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2013. "Like milk or wine: Does firm performance improve with age?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 173-189.
    40. Nga Thi Viet Nguyen & Chi Thi Kim Nguyen & Phuong Thi Minh Ho & Huong Thi Nguyen & Duy Van Nguyen & David McMillan, 2021. "How does capital structure affect firm’s market competitiveness?," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 2002501-200, January.
    41. Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad & Tressel, Thierry, 2020. "The global financial crisis and the capital structure of firms: Was the impact more severe among SMEs and non-listed firms?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    42. Melgarejo Duran, Mauricio & Stephen, Sheryl-Ann, 2020. "Internationalization and the capital structure of firms in emerging markets: Evidence from Latin America before and after the financial crisis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    43. 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.
    44. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Topcu, Betül Altay & Sarıgül, Sevgi Sümerli & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2021. "The effect of financial development on renewable energy demand: The case of developing countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1370-1380.
    45. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    46. B. Matemilola & A. Bany-Ariffin & W. Azman-Saini, 2012. "Financial Leverage and Shareholder’s Required Returns: Evidence from South Africa Corporate Sector," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 18(3), pages 601-612, March.
    47. Liew Chee Yoong & Ervina Alfan & S.Susela Devi, 2015. "Family Firms, Expropriation and Firm Value: Evidence from Related Party Transactions in Malaysia," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 49(5), pages 139-152, Special I.
    48. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    49. Ioannidou, Vasso & Pavanini, Nicola & Peng, Yushi, 2022. "Collateral and asymmetric information in lending markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 93-121.
    50. Margaritis, Dimitris & Psillaki, Maria, 2010. "Capital structure, equity ownership and firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 621-632, March.
    51. Windmeijer, Frank, 2005. "A finite sample correction for the variance of linear efficient two-step GMM estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 25-51, May.
    52. Chee Yoong Liew & YoungKyung Ko & Bee Lian Song & Saraniah Thechina Murthy, 2022. "Directors’ compensation, ownership concentration and the value of the firm: evidence from an emerging market," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(1), pages 155-188, 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. 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.
    2. Raja Zekri Ben Hamouda & Nessrine Hamzaoui & Faouzi Jilani, 2023. "Capital Structure Determinants: New Evidence from the MENA Region Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 144-163, January.
    3. Mohamed, Hisham Hanifa & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla I., 2015. "Why do issuers issue Sukuk or conventional bond? Evidence from Malaysian listed firms using partial adjustment models," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 233-252.
    4. Christopher A. Hartwell & Anna P. Malinowska, 2018. "Firm-Level and Institutional Determinants of Corporate Capital Structure in Poland: New Evidence from the Warsaw Stock Exchange," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 68(2), pages 120-143, April.
    5. 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).
    6. Alves, Paulo & Francisco, Paulo, 2013. "The Impact of Institutional Environment in Firms´ Capital Structure during the Recent Financial Crises," MPRA Paper 51300, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Pinto, João M. & Silva, Cátia S., 2021. "Does export intensity affect corporate leverage? Evidence from Portuguese SMEs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    8. Alves, Paulo & Francisco, Paulo, 2015. "The impact of institutional environment on the capital structure of firms during recent financial crises," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 129-146.
    9. Hossain, Mohammed Sawkat, 2021. "A revisit of capital structure puzzle: Global evidence and analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 657-678.
    10. 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.
    11. Vidhan K. Goyal & Frank Packer, 2017. "Capital Structure in Emerging Asia," HKUST IEMS Working Paper Series 2017-48, HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies, revised Dec 2017.
    12. Hanifa, Mohamed Hisham & Masih, Mansur & Bacha, Obiyathulla, 2014. "Testing Sukuk And Conventional Bond Offers Based On Corporate Financing Theories Using Partial Adjustment Models: Evidence From Malaysian Listed Firms," MPRA Paper 56953, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Niluthpaul Sarker & Roushanara Islam, 2021. "Issues on Bank’s Capital Structure and Profitability: A Developing Country Context," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(1), pages 86-104.
    14. Belkhir, Mohamed & Maghyereh, Aktham & Awartani, Basel, 2016. "Institutions and corporate capital structure in the MENA region," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 99-129.
    15. Quoc Trung Nguyen Kim, 2023. "Does COVID-19 affect small and medium enterprises’ capital structure in vietnam?," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 2190268-219, December.
    16. Antonio D’Amato, 2020. "Capital structure, debt maturity, and financial crisis: empirical evidence from SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 919-941, December.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Nivorozhkin, Eugene, 2005. "Financing choices of firms in EU accession countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 138-169, June.
    20. Feld, Lars P. & Heckemeyer, Jost H. & Overesch, Michael, 2013. "Capital structure choice and company taxation: A meta-study," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2850-2866.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm age; Emerging markets; Firm characteristics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General

    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:spr:epolin:v:52:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s40812-024-00299-z. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.