Implications of Sharia-compliant financing trade-offs on unemployment and growth

The argument holds that visionary and dynamic small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tend to position growth at the centre of strategy. However, there has been a growing body of literature that has examined how financial literacy can support owner-managers
of SMEs in making solid financial decisions that will enhance the growth of their businesses. In the present study, financial literacy and financial resource availability were modelled as different antecedents of SMEs growth. Nevertheless, the boundary condition for such models has received very little attention in the context of Ghana. Accordingly, in regard to resource-based view (RBV) logic, the current research examined the implications of contingency variable financial literacy (proficiency) on the relationship between financial resource availability and SMEs growth, particularly in the context of Ghana. The findings of the current research revealed that high financial literacy led to more positive effect of financial resource availability on SMEs growth.

The adjustment for the firm capital structure is unclear from perspectives of trade-off theory, pecking order theory, life cycle theory, market timing theory, and free cash flow theory, since many research findings contradict each other. Adjustments for the capital structure are complex, since the conditions for each firm are different. The objective of this study is to provide empirical evidence of how firms adjust capital structure in relationship with maturity in context of trade-off, pecking order, free cash flow, and market timing theory. In terms of hypotheses testing, this study conducts logistic regression analysis with 138 Indonesian public firms as the sample in the observed period from 2010 to 2015. To distinguish the results, this study controls the sample by size and age based on the median. The study reports that preferences for the source of funds based on the cost of capital, internal conflict, and firm maturity indicate adjustments for the firm capital structure. Based on Indonesian firms, the form of capital structure in developing countries can refer to a single model or a combination of the trade-off model and pecking order model, as well as market timing.

This paper examines capital structure determinants for service companies in Jordan between 2014 and 2018. Secondary data from 45 companies were analyzed using the panel regression approach. The results show that the independent variables, suggested as capital structure determinants, have an effect on the debt ratio made by the service companies. Size and non-debt tax shield have a positive significant effect on the debt ratio, while profitability and business risk have a negative significant impact on the debt ratio. In general, the findings support the notion that the trade-off, bankruptcy cost, agency cost and pecking order theories are crucial in explaining the capital structure of Jordanian service companies except for non-debt tax shields and tangibility factors. Jordanian service companies do not use fixed assets as collateral or companies with higher collateral value tend to borrow less debt. Although the coefficient of institutional investors is statistically insignificant, it is still negative and economically significant. This paper concludes that size, profitability, business risk, non-debt tax shields and institutional ownership factors are fundamental in terms of shaping the capital structure in Jordanian service companies.