The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms

This dissertation is a research on the capital structure choices of the firms in India. It analyses the relationship of six determinants – profitability, firm size, asset tangibility, non-debt tax shields, growth, and financial distress (volatility) – with the book value of total, long-term, and sho...

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Main Author: Jain, Jivansh
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2022
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/70405/
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author Jain, Jivansh
author_facet Jain, Jivansh
author_sort Jain, Jivansh
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This dissertation is a research on the capital structure choices of the firms in India. It analyses the relationship of six determinants – profitability, firm size, asset tangibility, non-debt tax shields, growth, and financial distress (volatility) – with the book value of total, long-term, and short-term leverage. The sample data for the analysis consists of 175 listed Indian companies, largest in the country by their market capital. A cross-sectional study is conducted with a multiple linear regression analysis. The research studies the existing literature and applies the two most widely accepted theories (trade-off and pecking order) to the results. The study finds out that for Indian firms, long-term leverage is based on the company's financing decisions and is significantly affected by the chosen determinants (except growth and volatility). In contrast, short-term leverage is more transactional in nature, considering that not a single determinant had a significant statistical impact or explanatory power on short-term leverage. Moreover, profitability and non-debts tax shield were found to be negatively related to total leverage and long-term leverage, and size and asset tangibility were found to be positively related with total and long-term leverage. From the theory point of view, neither of the two theories can explain the relationship of all the variables. Pecking order theory dominates when it comes to explaining the negative relationship of leverage with profitability. However, trade-off theory explains the relationships of firm size and non-debt tax shields with leverage. Pecking order theory does explain the positive relationship of growth, but the analysis shows that it is statistically insignificant. Trade-off theory explains just one more variable than pecking order theory, so it can be concluded that trade-off theory fairs a little better than pecking order but does not entirely explain the capital structure choices of Indian firms
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language English
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spelling nottingham-704052023-07-06T10:14:28Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/70405/ The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms Jain, Jivansh This dissertation is a research on the capital structure choices of the firms in India. It analyses the relationship of six determinants – profitability, firm size, asset tangibility, non-debt tax shields, growth, and financial distress (volatility) – with the book value of total, long-term, and short-term leverage. The sample data for the analysis consists of 175 listed Indian companies, largest in the country by their market capital. A cross-sectional study is conducted with a multiple linear regression analysis. The research studies the existing literature and applies the two most widely accepted theories (trade-off and pecking order) to the results. The study finds out that for Indian firms, long-term leverage is based on the company's financing decisions and is significantly affected by the chosen determinants (except growth and volatility). In contrast, short-term leverage is more transactional in nature, considering that not a single determinant had a significant statistical impact or explanatory power on short-term leverage. Moreover, profitability and non-debts tax shield were found to be negatively related to total leverage and long-term leverage, and size and asset tangibility were found to be positively related with total and long-term leverage. From the theory point of view, neither of the two theories can explain the relationship of all the variables. Pecking order theory dominates when it comes to explaining the negative relationship of leverage with profitability. However, trade-off theory explains the relationships of firm size and non-debt tax shields with leverage. Pecking order theory does explain the positive relationship of growth, but the analysis shows that it is statistically insignificant. Trade-off theory explains just one more variable than pecking order theory, so it can be concluded that trade-off theory fairs a little better than pecking order but does not entirely explain the capital structure choices of Indian firms 2022-09-08 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/70405/1/Dissertation_20304450.pdf Jain, Jivansh (2022) The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
spellingShingle Jain, Jivansh
The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms
title The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms
title_full The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms
title_fullStr The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms
title_full_unstemmed The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms
title_short The Determinants of Capital Structure: Based on Empirical Evidence from Indian Firms
title_sort determinants of capital structure: based on empirical evidence from indian firms
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/70405/