IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bdi/wptemi/td_574_06.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Debt maturity of Italian firms

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Magri

    (Banca d�Italia)

Abstract

In this paper we test different theories on debt maturity that can be ascribed to either the demand or the supply side of the market. Firm risk, asymmetric information, agency costs are all aspects that should be considered in the analysis. We also include leverage in the firm decision process regarding debt maturity, relying on a simultaneous equations approach. Among Italian industrial firms, theories based on lenders using debt maturity to address information problems and default risk seem to have strong explanatory power. The demand side of the market appears to be less important in determining debt maturity. The role of the supply side of the market is confirmed when considering legal enforcement of loan contracts. Where legal enforcement is low, the negative consequences of asymmetric information are worse for lenders and this explains why they give more importance to asymmetric information proxies in determining debt maturity.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Magri, 2006. "Debt maturity of Italian firms," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 574, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_574_06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/temi-discussione/2006/2006-0574/tema_574.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stohs, Mark Hoven & Mauer, David C, 1996. "The Determinants of Corporate Debt Maturity Structure," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(3), pages 279-312, July.
    2. Diamond, Douglas W, 1991. "Monitoring and Reputation: The Choice between Bank Loans and Directly Placed Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 689-721, August.
    3. Jappelli, Tullio & Pagano, Marco & Bianco, Magda, 2005. "Courts and Banks: Effects of Judicial Enforcement on Credit Markets," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(2), pages 223-244, April.
    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. 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.
    6. Titman, Sheridan & Wessels, Roberto, 1988. " The Determinants of Capital Structure Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 43(1), pages 1-19, March.
    7. Shane A. Johnson, 2003. "Debt Maturity and the Effects of Growth Opportunities and Liquidity Risk on Leverage," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(1), pages 209-236.
    8. Bonaccorsi di Patti, Emilia & Dell'Ariccia, Giovanni, 2004. "Bank Competition and Firm Creation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(2), pages 225-251, April.
    9. Berlin, Mitchell & Mester, Loretta J., 1992. "Debt covenants and renegotiation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 95-133, June.
    10. Mikkelson, Wayne H, 1984. "On the Existence of an Optimal Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence: Discussion," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 878-880, July.
    11. 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.
    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. Allen N. Berger & Marco A. Espinosa‐Vega & W. Scott Frame & Nathan H. Miller, 2005. "Debt Maturity, Risk, and Asymmetric Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2895-2923, December.
    14. Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2003. "Do Better Institutions Mitigate Agency Problems? Evidence from Corporate Finance Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 185-212, March.
    15. Hausman, Jerry A & Taylor, William E, 1981. "Panel Data and Unobservable Individual Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1377-1398, November.
    16. Douglas W. Diamond, 1991. "Debt Maturity Structure and Liquidity Risk," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(3), pages 709-737.
    17. Barclay, Michael J. & Marx, Leslie M. & Smith, Clifford Jr., 2003. "The joint determination of leverage and maturity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 149-167, March.
    18. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 1999. "Institutions, financial markets, and firm debt maturity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 295-336, December.
    19. Douglas W. Diamond, 2004. "Presidential Address, Committing to Commit: Short-term Debt When Enforcement Is Costly," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1447-1479, August.
    20. 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.
    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. Alessandra Staderini, 2001. "Tax reforms to influence corporate financial policy: the case of the Italian business tax reform of 1997-98," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 423, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    23. Flannery, Mark J, 1986. "Asymmetric Information and Risky Debt Maturity Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(1), pages 19-37, March.
    24. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    25. 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.
    26. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    27. Magda Bianco & Silvia Giacomelli, 2004. "Efficienza della giustizia e imprenditorialit?: il caso italiano," ECONOMIA E POLITICA INDUSTRIALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2004(124).
    28. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Barclay, Michael J & Smith, Clifford W, Jr, 1995. "The Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 609-631, June.
    30. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    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. Attaullah Shah & Zahoor Khan, 2016. "Importance of Judicial Efficiency in Capital Structure Decisions of Small Firms: Evidence from Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 361-394.
    2. Luca Andriani, 2014. "Is Acting Prosocially Beneficial for the Credit Market?," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 354-378, September.

    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. Silvia Magri, 2010. "Debt Maturity Choice of Nonpublic Italian Firms," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(2‐3), pages 443-463, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Attaullah Shah & Zahoor Khan, 2016. "Importance of Judicial Efficiency in Capital Structure Decisions of Small Firms: Evidence from Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 361-394.
    4. 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.
    5. Gao, Wenlian & Zhu, Feifei, 2015. "Information asymmetry and capital structure around the world," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 131-159.
    6. 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.
    7. Harjeet S. Bhabra & Tong Liu & Dogan Tirtiroglu, 2008. "Capital Structure Choice in a Nascent Market: Evidence from Listed Firms in China," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 37(2), pages 341-364, June.
    8. Maurizio La Rocca & Tiziana La Rocca & Alfio Cariola, 2011. "Capital Structure Decisions During a Firm's Life Cycle," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 107-130, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Dong Chen & Yanmin Gao & Mayank Kaul & Charles Ka Yui Leung & Desmond Tsang, 2016. "The Role of Sponsors and External Management on the Capital Structure of Asian-Pacific REITs: The Case of Australia, Japan, and Singapore," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 19(2), pages 197-221.
    11. Suzan Hol & Nico van der Wijst, 2006. "The financing structure of non-listed firms," Discussion Papers 468, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    12. Matthias Nnadi & Vachiraporn Surichamorn & Ranadeva Jayasekera & Yacine Belghitar, 2022. "Empirical analysis of debt maturity, cash holdings and firm investment in developing economies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3345-3372, July.
    13. Suzan Hol & Nico Van der Wijst, 2008. "The financial structure of nonlisted firms," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(7), pages 559-568.
    14. Huang, Guan-Ying & Huang, Henry Hongren & Lee, Chun I, 2020. "Taming the dark side of asset liquidity: The role of short-term debt," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 539-562.
    15. Jamie Alcock & Eva Steiner & Kelvin Tan, 2014. "Joint Leverage and Maturity Choices in Real Estate Firms: The Role of the REIT Status," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 57-78, January.
    16. Muradoğlu, Yaz Gülnur & Onay, Ceylan & Phylaktis, Kate, 2014. "European integration and corporate financing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 138-157.
    17. Kim, Sang-Joon & Bae, John & Oh, Hannah, 2019. "Financing strategically: The moderation effect of marketing activities on the bifurcated relationship between debt level and firm valuation of small and medium enterprises," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 663-681.
    18. Bülent Köksal & Cüneyt Orman, 2015. "Determinants of capital structure: evidence from a major developing economy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 255-282, February.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate finance; debt maturity; legal enforcement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:bdi:wptemi:td_574_06. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdigvit.html .

    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.