IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/62370.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Determinants of capital structure in Irish SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Mac an Bhaird, Ciaran
  • Lucey, Brian

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical examination of firm characteristic determinants of the capital structure of a sample of 299 Irish small and medium sized firms (SMEs). Hypotheses formulated from pecking order and agency theories incorporating a financial growth life cycle approach are tested on a number of multivariate regression models. Results suggest that age, size, level of intangible activity, ownership structure and the provision of collateral are important determinants of the capital structure in SMEs. A generalization of Zellner's (1962) Seemingly Unrelated Regression approach (SUR) is used to examine industry effects and to test the stability of parameter estimates across sectors. Results suggest that the influence of age, size, ownership structure and provision of collateral is similar across industry sectors, indicating the universal effect of information asymmetries. Firms overcome the lack of adequate collateralizable firm assets in two ways; by providing personal assets as collateral for business debt, and by employing additional external equity to finance research and development projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Mac an Bhaird, Ciaran & Lucey, Brian, 2008. "Determinants of capital structure in Irish SMEs," MPRA Paper 62370, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Nov 2008.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:62370
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/62370/1/MPRA_paper_62370.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Chittenden, Francis & Hall, Graham & Hutchinson, Patrick, 1996. "Small Firm Growth, Access to Capital Markets and Financial Structure: Review of Issues and an Empirical Investigation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 59-67, February.
    3. 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.
    4. Judith Jordan & Julian Lowe & Peter Taylor, 1998. "Strategy and Financial Policy in UK Small Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1‐2), pages 1-27, January.
    5. Robert Cressy, 2006. "Why do Most Firms Die Young?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 103-116, March.
    6. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:1:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Bronwyn Hall, 2004. "The financing of research and development," Chapters, in: Anthony Bartzokas & Sunil Mani (ed.), Financial Systems, Corporate Investment in Innovation, and Venture Capital, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Lopez-Gracia, Jose & Aybar-Arias, Cristina, 2000. "An Empirical Approach to the Financial Behaviour of Small and Medium Sized Companies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 55-63, February.
    9. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    10. Diamond, Douglas W, 1989. "Reputation Acquisition in Debt Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 828-862, August.
    11. Giuseppe Coco, 2000. "On the Use of Collateral," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 191-214, April.
    12. Luigi Zingales, 2000. "In Search of New Foundations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1623-1653, August.
    13. DeAngelo, Harry & Masulis, Ronald W., 1980. "Optimal capital structure under corporate and personal taxation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 3-29, March.
    14. van der Wijst, Nico & Thurik, Roy, 1993. "Determinants of Small Firm Debt Ratios: An Analysis of Retail Panel Data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 55-65, March.
    15. Abe De Jong & Ronald Van Dijk, 2007. "Determinants of Leverage and Agency Problems: A Regression Approach with Survey Data," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 565-593.
    16. Michael S. Long & Ileen B. Malitz, 1985. "Investment Patterns and Financial Leverage," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Capital Structures in the United States, pages 325-352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Saibal Ghosh, 2007. "Bank Debt Use and Firm Size: Indian Evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 15-23, June.
    18. Hogan, Teresa & Hutson, Elaine, 2005. "Capital structure in new technology-based firms: Evidence from the Irish software sector," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 369-387, February.
    19. 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.
    20. Evans, David S & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1989. "An Estimated Model of Entrepreneurial Choice under Liquidity Constraints," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 808-827, August.
    21. ., 2007. "Behavioral Analysis of Law and Corporate Finance," Chapters, in: Law and Corporate Finance, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. Graham C. Hall & Patrick J. Hutchinson & Nicos Michaelas, 2004. "Determinants of the Capital Structures of European SMEs," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5‐6), pages 711-728, June.
    23. Avery, Robert B. & Bostic, Raphael W. & Samolyk, Katherine A., 1998. "The role of personal wealth in small business finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 1019-1061, August.
    24. Paul Westhead & David Storey, 1997. "Financial constraints on the growth of high technology small firms in the United Kingdom," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 197-201.
    25. Scott Holmes & Pam Kent, 1991. "An Empirical Analysis of the Financial Structure of Small and Large Australian Manufacturing Enterprises," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 1(2), pages 141-154, Winter.
    26. 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.
    27. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    28. Bester, Helmut, 1985. "Screening vs. Rationing in Credit Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 850-855, September.
    29. Berger, Allen N. & Udell, Gregory F., 1990. "Collateral, loan quality and bank risk," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 21-42, January.
    30. 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.
    31. Berggren, Bjorn & Olofsson, Christer & Silver, Lars, 2000. "Control Aversion and the Search for External Financing in Swedish SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 233-242.
    32. Graham Hall & Patrick Hutchinson & Nicos Michaelas, 2000. "Industry Effects on the Determinants of Unquoted SMEs' Capital Structure," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 297-312.
    33. Kon, Y & Storey, D J, 2003. "A Theory of Discouraged Borrowers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 37-49, August.
    34. Chandra S. Mishra & Daniel L. Mcconaughy, 1999. "Founding Family Control and Capital Structure: The Risk of Loss of Control and the Aversion to Debt," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(4), pages 53-64, July.
    35. Stephen A. Ross, 1977. "The Determination of Financial Structure: The Incentive-Signalling Approach," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 8(1), pages 23-40, Spring.
    36. Francisco Sogorb-Mira, 2005. "How SME Uniqueness Affects Capital Structure: Evidence From A 1994–1998 Spanish Data Panel," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 447-457, December.
    37. Zsuzsanna Fluck & Douglas Holtz-Eakin & Harvey S. Rosen, 1998. "Where Does the Money Come From? The Financing of Small Entrepreneurial Enterprises," New York University, Leonard N. Stern School Finance Department Working Paper Seires 98-038, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business-.
    38. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    39. Spiros Bougheas, 2004. "Internal vs External Financing of R&D," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 11-17, February.
    40. Cassar, Gavin, 2004. "The financing of business start-ups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 261-283, March.
    41. de Meza, David & Webb, David, 2000. "Does credit rationing imply insufficient lending?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(3), pages 215-234, November.
    42. repec:bla:acctfi:v::y:2003:i:2:p:123-147 is not listed on IDEAS
    43. ., 2007. "The Economics of the Law and Corporate Finance," Chapters, in: Law and Corporate Finance, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    44. Voordeckers, Wim & Steijvers, Tensie, 2006. "Business collateral and personal commitments in SME lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 3067-3086, November.
    45. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    46. Timo Baas & Mechthild Schrooten, 2006. "‘Relationship Banking and SMEs: A Theoretical Analysis’," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 127-137, October.
    47. Benjamin M. Friedman, 1985. "Corporate Capital Structures in the United States," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie85-1.
    48. Black, Jane & de Meza, David & Jeffreys, David, 1996. "House Price, the Supply of Collateral and the Enterprise Economy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(434), pages 60-75, January.
    49. Dries Heyman & Marc Deloof & Hubert Ooghe, 2008. "The Financial Structure of Private Held Belgian Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 301-313, March.
    50. Björn Berggren & Christer Olofsson & Lars Silver, 2000. "Control Aversion and The Search for External Financing in Swedish SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 233-242, November.
    51. Cressy, Robert & Olofsson, Christer, 1997. "The Financial Conditions for Swedish SMEs: Survey and Research Agenda," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 179-194, April.
    52. Michaelas, Nicos & Chittenden, Francis & Poutziouris, Panikkos, 1999. "Financial Policy and Capital Structure Choice in U.K. SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Company Panel Data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 113-130, March.
    53. James S. Ang, 1991. "Small Business Uniqueness and the Theory of Financial Management," Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, Spring.
    54. Audretsch, David B & Elston, Julie A, 1997. "Financing the German Mittelstand," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 97-110, April.
    55. Srinivasan Balakrishnan & Isaac Fox, 1993. "Abstract," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 3-16, January.
    56. Charles Ou & George Haynes, 2006. "Acquisition of Additional Equity Capital by Small Firms – Findings from the National Survey of Small Business Finances," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 157-168, October.
    57. Graham C. Hall & Patrick J. Hutchinson & Nicos Michaelas, 2004. "Determinants of the Capital Structures of European SMEs," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5-6), pages 711-728.
    58. Gavin Cassar & Scott Holmes, 2003. "Capital structure and financing of SMEs: Australian evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 43(2), pages 123-147, July.
    59. Manove, Michael & Padilla, A Jorge & Pagano, Marco, 2001. "Collateral versus Project Screening: A Model of Lazy Banks," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(4), pages 726-744, Winter.
    60. Misa Tanaka, 2003. "The Macroeconomic Implications of the New Basel Accord," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 49(2), pages 217-232.
    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. Joaquim J.S. Ramalho & Jacinto Vidigal da Silva, 2009. "A two-part fractional regression model for the financial leverage decisions of micro, small, medium and large firms," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(5), pages 621-636.
    2. Mac an Bhaird, Ciarán & Lucey, Brian, 2010. "An empirical investigation of the financial growth life cycle," MPRA Paper 61948, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Van Campenhout, Geert & Van Caneghem, Tom, 2009. "Information Availability, Information Quality and the Financial Structure of Belgian SME's," Working Papers 2009/27, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    4. 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.
    5. Tom Caneghem & Geert Campenhout, 2012. "Quantity and quality of information and SME financial structure," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 341-358, September.
    6. James Agyei & Shaorong Sun & Eugene Abrokwah, 2020. "Trade-Off Theory Versus Pecking Order Theory: Ghanaian Evidence," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    7. Jun Du & Alessandra Guariglia & Alexander Newman, 2010. "Does social capital affect the financing decisions of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises?," Discussion Papers 10/13, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    8. Sardo, Filipe & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Armada, Manuel Rocha, 2022. "The importance of owner loans for rebalancing the capital structure of small knowledge-intensive service firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Brian Lucey & Colm KEarney & Ciaran MacAnBhaird, 2012. "Culture and capital structure in small and medium sized firms," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp419, IIIS.
    10. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Ana Caetano, 2015. "Trade-Off Theory versus Pecking Order Theory: capital structure decisions in a peripheral region of Portugal," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 445-466, April.
    11. Mateev, Miroslav & Poutziouris, Panikkos & Ivanov, Konstantin, 2013. "On the determinants of SME capital structure in Central and Eastern Europe: A dynamic panel analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 28-51.
    12. María Palacín-Sánchez & Luis Ramírez-Herrera & Filippo di Pietro, 2013. "Capital structure of SMEs in Spanish regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 503-519, August.
    13. Geert Campenhout & Tom Caneghem, 2013. "How did the notional interest deduction affect Belgian SMEs’ capital structure?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 351-373, February.
    14. 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.
    15. Francisco Sogorb- Mira, 2002. "How Sme Uniqueness Affects Capital Structure: Evidence From A 1994-1998 Spanish Data Panel," Working Papers. Serie EC 2002-18, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    16. Degryse, H.A. & de Goeij, P. C. & Kappert, P., 2009. "The Impact of Firm and Industry Characteristics on Small Firms' Capital Structure : Evidence from Dutch Panel Data," Discussion Paper 2009-21, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    17. Hans Degryse & Peter Goeij & Peter Kappert, 2012. "The impact of firm and industry characteristics on small firms’ capital structure," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 431-447, May.
    18. Satish Kumar & Riya Sureka & Sisira Colombage, 2020. "Capital structure of SMEs: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 70(4), pages 535-565, November.
    19. 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.
    20. Iván Arribas & Emili Tortosa-Ausina & TingTing Zhu, 2021. "Optimal capital structure, model uncertainty, and European SMEs," Working Papers 2021/11, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Capital structure; SME; Zellner’s SUR model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

    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:pra:mprapa:62370. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.