Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison

This paper is a cross-country comparison of capital structure; specifically its firm level determinants and how these fluctuate between both Japan and the United States to test the efficacy of competing capital structure theories within contrasting institutional traditions. The purpose of the study...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Martin, James
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2013
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/26781/
_version_ 1848793245292691456
author Martin, James
author_facet Martin, James
author_sort Martin, James
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper is a cross-country comparison of capital structure; specifically its firm level determinants and how these fluctuate between both Japan and the United States to test the efficacy of competing capital structure theories within contrasting institutional traditions. The purpose of the study is to bring to light the possible effect of such institutional differences on the capital structure decision for financial managers. I utilize a pre-crisis sample of 292 firms, 147 from Japan and 145 from the United States across a period of 1994-2007. Using panel data and a Blundell-Bond system-gmm procedure, the paper finds significant evidence for institutional impacts upon the debt-equity decision between the two countries, as well as significant evidence pertaining to the determinants in the two countries. I find the pecking order theory sound to describe the significant relationships in the United States, whilst in Japan there is evidence to support a confluence of hierarchal, trade-off and agency considerations.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T18:57:14Z
format Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-26781
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T18:57:14Z
publishDate 2013
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-267812017-10-19T13:36:16Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/26781/ Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison Martin, James This paper is a cross-country comparison of capital structure; specifically its firm level determinants and how these fluctuate between both Japan and the United States to test the efficacy of competing capital structure theories within contrasting institutional traditions. The purpose of the study is to bring to light the possible effect of such institutional differences on the capital structure decision for financial managers. I utilize a pre-crisis sample of 292 firms, 147 from Japan and 145 from the United States across a period of 1994-2007. Using panel data and a Blundell-Bond system-gmm procedure, the paper finds significant evidence for institutional impacts upon the debt-equity decision between the two countries, as well as significant evidence pertaining to the determinants in the two countries. I find the pecking order theory sound to describe the significant relationships in the United States, whilst in Japan there is evidence to support a confluence of hierarchal, trade-off and agency considerations. 2013-09-20 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/26781/1/Final_3.pdf Martin, James (2013) Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)
spellingShingle Martin, James
Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison
title Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison
title_full Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison
title_fullStr Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison
title_full_unstemmed Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison
title_short Determinants of Capital Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison
title_sort determinants of capital structure: a cross-country comparison
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/26781/