IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v37y2005i19p2179-2189.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pecking order or trade-off hypothesis? Evidence on the capital structure of Chinese companies

Author

Listed:
  • Guanqun Tong
  • Christopher Green

Abstract

This study tests the pecking order and trade-off hypotheses of corporate financing decisions using a cross-section of the largest Chinese listed companies. The study is built on Allen (1993), Baskin (1989) and Adedeji (1998) to set up three models in which trade-off and pecking order theories give distinctively different predictions: (1) the determinants of leverage; (2) the relationship between leverage and dividends; and (3) the determinants of corporate investment. In model 1, a significant negative correlation is found between leverage and profitability; in model 2 a significant positive correlation between current leverage and past dividends is found. These results broadly support the pecking order hypothesis over trade-off theory. However, model 3 is inconclusive. Overall, the results provide tentative support for the pecking order hypothesis and demonstrate that a conventional model of corporate capital structure can explain the financing behaviour of Chinese companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Guanqun Tong & Christopher Green, 2005. "Pecking order or trade-off hypothesis? Evidence on the capital structure of Chinese companies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(19), pages 2179-2189.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:19:p:2179-2189
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840500319873
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840500319873
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036840500319873?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. Abimbola Adedeji, 1998. "Does the Pecking Order Hypothesis Explain the Dividend Payout Ratios of Firms in the UK?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(9-10), pages 1127-1155.
    2. Wiwattanakantang, Yupana, 1999. "An empirical study on the determinants of the capital structure of Thai firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 7(3-4), pages 371-403, August.
    3. Cobham, David & Subramaniam, Ramesh, 1998. "Corporate finance in developing countries: New evidence for India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1033-1047, June.
    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. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1991. "The Theory of Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 297-355, March.
    6. Robert Watson & Nick Wilson, 2002. "Small and Medium Size Enterprise Financing: A Note on Some of the Empirical Implications of a Pecking Order," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3&4), pages 557-578.
    7. 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.
    8. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    9. Robert Watson & Nick Wilson, 2002. "Small and Medium Size Enterprise Financing: A Note on Some of the Empirical Implications of a Pecking Order," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3‐4), pages 557-578, April.
    10. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    11. Singh, A. & Hamid, J., 1992. "Corporate Financial Structure in Developing Countries," Papers 1, World Bank - International Finance Corporation.
    12. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. 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.
    14. Eugene F. Fama, 2002. "Testing Trade-Off and Pecking Order Predictions About Dividends and Debt," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 1-33, March.
    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. 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.
    17. Singh, Ajit, 1994. "Corporate financial patterns in industrialising economies: a comparative international study," MPRA Paper 54936, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Chirinko, Robert S. & Singha, Anuja R., 2000. "Testing static tradeoff against pecking order models of capital structure: a critical comment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 417-425, December.
    19. Titman, Sheridan & Wessels, Roberto, 1988. " The Determinants of Capital Structure Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 43(1), pages 1-19, March.
    20. Warner, Jerold B, 1977. "Bankruptcy Costs: Some Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 337-347, May.
    21. Abimbola Adedeji, 1998. "Does the Pecking Order Hypothesis Explain the Dividend Payout Ratios of Firms in the UK?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(9‐10), pages 1127-1155, November.
    22. Emilio Colombo, 2001. "Determinants of corporate capital structure: evidence from Hungarian firms," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(13), pages 1689-1701.
    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. Rana El Bahsh & Ali Alattar & Aziz N. Yusuf, 2018. "Firm, Industry and Country Level Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from Jordan," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 175-190.
    2. Sanjiva Prasad & Christopher J. Green & Victor Murinde, 2005. "Company Financial Structure: A Survey and Implications for Developing Economies," Chapters, in: Christopher J. Green & Colin Kirkpatrick & Victor Murinde (ed.), Finance and Development, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Allini, Alessandra & Rakha, Soliman & McMillan, David G. & Caldarelli, Adele, 2018. "Pecking order and market timing theory in emerging markets: The case of Egyptian firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 297-308.
    4. Mohamed Soufeljil & Asma Sghaier & Zouhayer Mighri & Hanène Kheireddine, 2017. "The financial structure of the Tunisian listed businesses: an application on panel data," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 7(1), pages 1-25, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Sanjiva Prasad & Christopher J. Green & Victor Murinde, 2001. "Company Financing, Captial Structure, and Ownership: A Survey, and Implications for Developing Economies," SUERF Studies, SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum, number 12 edited by Morten Balling, May.
    7. Saumitra, Bhaduri, 2012. "Why do firms issue equity? Some evidence from an emerging economy, India," MPRA Paper 38043, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Maria Psillaki & Nikolaos Daskalakis, 2009. "Are the determinants of capital structure country or firm specific?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 319-333, October.
    9. Attaullah Shah & Jasir Ilyas, 2014. "Is Negative Profitability-Leverage Relation the only Support for the Pecking Order Theory in Case of Pakistani Firms?," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 53(1), pages 33-55.
    10. Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2017. "Determinants of capital structure in emerging markets: Evidence from Vietnam," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 105-113.
    11. Yarong Chen & Luca Sensini & Maria Vazquez, 2021. "Determinants of Leverage in Emerging Markets: Empirical Evidence," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 40-46.
    12. Viet Anh Dang, 2013. "Testing capital structure theories using error correction models: evidence from the UK, France and Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 171-190, January.
    13. Viet Anh Dang, 2011. "Testing Capital Structure Theories Using Error Correction Models: Evidence From The Uk, France And Germany," Post-Print hal-00732527, HAL.
    14. Sjur Westgaard & Amund Eidet & Stein Frydenberg & Thor Christian Grosås, 2008. "Investigating the Capital Structure of UK Real Estate Companies," Journal of Property Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 61-87, August.
    15. Soumaya Hergli & Frederic Teulon, 2014. "Capital structure’s explanatory factors : The Maghreb case," Working Papers 2014-98, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    16. Zou, Hong & Xiao, Jason Zezhong, 2006. "The financing behaviour of listed Chinese firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 239-258.
    17. A.O. Olakunle & P.L. Jones, 2014. "Assessing the Impact of Size on the Capital Structure Choice for Listed Nigeria Firms," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 4(7), pages 184-202, July.
    18. 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.
    19. Vivien Beattie & Alan Goodacre & Sarah Jane Thomson, 2006. "Corporate Financing Decisions: UK Survey Evidence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9‐10), pages 1402-1434, November.
    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

    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:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:19:p:2179-2189. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.