Determinants of capital structure: evidence from Jordanian service companies
-
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/imfi.17(2).2020.28
-
Article InfoVolume 17 2020, Issue #2, pp. 364-376
- Cited by
- 1704 Views
-
1130 Downloads
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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.
- Keywords
-
JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)G23, G32
-
References57
-
Tables4
-
Figures0
-
- Table 1. Characteristics of Jordanian service companies
- Table 2. LLC test results
- Table 3. Correlation coefficients between independent variables
- Table 4. The effect of service company characteristics on the capital structure
-
- Al-Najjar, B., & Taylor, P. (2008). The relationship between capital structure and ownership structure: New evidence from Jordanian panel data. Managerial Finance, 34(12), 919-933.
- Al-Nsour, O. J., & Jresat, S. S. (2018). Capital Structure and Performance: Applied Study on Jordanian Industrial Public Shareholding Companies Listed in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). Journal of Economic & Financial Research, 5(2), 601-618.
- Al Abbadi, A. (2019). Determinants of Capital Structure in Industrial Companies: Conservative Policy – Applied Study on Jordanian Industrial for the Period (2014–2016). International Journal of Business and Management, 14(2).
- Albayrak, A. S. (2019). The Firm Specific Capital Structure Determinants of Turkish Firms Listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange: A Structural Equation Approach. IBAD Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 466-495.
- Ang, J. S. (1992). On the theory of finance for privately held firms. The Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 1(3), 185-203.
- Baker, M., & Wurgler, J. (2002). Market timing and capital structure. The Journal of Finance, 57(1), 1-32.
- Barton, S. L., Hill, N. C., & Sundaram, S. (1989). An empirical test of stakeholder theory predictions of capital structure. Financial Management, 36-44.
- Bhaduri, S. N. (2002). Determinants of corporate borrowing: some evidence from the Indian corporate structure. Journal of Economics and Finance, 26(2), 200-215.
- Bowen, R. M., Daley, L. A., & Huber Jr, C. C. (1982). Evidence on the existence and determinants of inter-industry differences in leverage. Financial Management, 10-20.
- Chaganti, R., & Damanpour, F. (1991). Institutional ownership, capital structure, and firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 12(7), 479-491.
- Chang, C., Lee, A. C., & Lee, C. F. (2009). Determinants of capital structure choice: A structural equation modeling approach. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 49(2), 197-213.
- Chen, C. R., & Steiner, T. L. (1999). Managerial ownership and agency conflicts: A nonlinear simultaneous equation analysis of managerial ownership, risk taking, debt policy, and dividend policy. Financial Review, 34(1), 119-136.
- Cole, R. A. (2013). What do we know about the capital structure of privately held US firms? Evidence from the surveys of small business finance. Financial Management, 42(4), 777-813.
- Dakua, S. (2019). Effect of determinants on financial leverage in I ndian steel industry: A study on capital structure. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 24(1), 427-436.
- DeAngelo, H., & Masulis, R. W. (1980). Optimal capital structure under corporate and personal taxation. Journal of Financial Economics, 8(1), 3-29.
- Devesa, M. J. S., & Esteban, L. P. (2011). Spanish hotel industry: indebtedness determinants. Applied Economics, 43(28), 4227-4238.
- Doan, T.-T. T. (2019). Firm-specific factors as determinants of capital structure: Evidence from an emerging country. International Journal of Economics and Management Systems, 4.
- Donaldson, G. (1961). Corporate Debt Capacity. A study of corporate debt policy and the determination of corporate debt capacity (Second printing.): Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard Univ.
- Fama, E. F., & French, K. R. (2002). Testing trade-off and pecking order predictions about dividends and debt. The Review of Financial Studies, 15(1), 1-33.
- Frank, M. Z., & Goyal, V. K. (2003). Testing the pecking order theory of capital structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 67(2), 217-248.
- Gharaibeh, O., & Khaled, M. H. B. (2020). Determinants of Profitability in Jordanian Services Companies. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 17(1), 277-290.
- Graham, J. R. (2000). How big are the tax benefits of debt? The Journal of Finance, 55(5), 1901-1941.
- Grier, P., & Zychowicz, E. J. (1994). Institutional investors, corporate discipline, and the role of debt. Journal of Economics and Business, 46(1), 1-11.
- Harris, M., & Raviv, A. (1991). The theory of capital structure. The Journal of Finance, 46(1), 297-355.
- Hovakimian, A. (2006). Are observed capital structures determined by equity market timing? Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 41(1), 221-243.
- Iqbal, F., Ahmad, M. B., & Ali, H. F. (2019). Determinants of capital structure: an empirical study of KSE listed MNCs in Pakistan. Journal of Accounting, Finance and Auditing Studies, 5(1), 173-196.
- Jensen, M. C. (1986). Agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeovers. The American Economic Review, 76(2), 323-329.
- Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305-360.
- Khrawish, H. A., & Khraiwesh, A. H. A. (2010). The determinants of the capital structure: evidence from Jordanian industrial companies. Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Economics and Administration, 105(3055), 1-48.
- Leland, H. E., & Pyle, D. H. (1977). Informational asymmetries, financial structure, and financial intermediation. The Journal of Finance, 32(2), 371-387.
- MacKay, P., & Phillips, G. M. (2005). How does industry affect firm financial structure? The review of Financial Studies, 18(4), 1433-1466.
- MacKie-Mason, J. K. (1990). Do taxes affect corporate financing decisions? The Journal of Finance, 45(5), 1471-1493.
- Maghyereh, A. (2005). Dynamic capital structure: Evidence from the small developing country of Jordan. International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting, 13(1).
- Miller, M. H. (1977). Debt and taxes. The Journal of Finance, 32(2), 261-275.
- Miller, M. H. (1988). The Modigliani-Miller propositions after thirty years. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2(4), 99-120.
- Modigliani, F., & Miller, M. H. (1958). The cost of capital, corporation finance and the theory of investment. The American Economic Review, 1, 3.
- Modigliani, F., & Miller, M. H. (1963). Corporate income taxes and the cost of capital: a correction. The American Economic Review, 53(3), 433-443.
- Myers, S. C. (1984). The capital structure puzzle. The Journal of Finance, 39(3), 574-592.
- O’Brien, P. C., & Bhushan, R. (1990). Analyst following and institutional ownership. Journal of Accounting Research, 28, 55-76.
- Prowse, S. D. (1990). Institutional investment patterns and corporate financial behavior in the United States and Japan. Journal of Financial Economics, 27(1), 43-66.
- Qiu, M., & La, B. (2010). Firm characteristics as determinants of capital structures in Australia. International journal of the Economics of Business, 17(3), 277-287.
- Rajan, R. G., & Zingales, L. (1995). What do we know about capital structure? Some evidence from international data. The Journal of Finance, 50(5), 1421-1460.
- Sayılgan, G., Karabacak, H., & Küçükkocaoğlu, G. (2006). The firm-specific determinants of corporate capital structure: Evidence from Turkish panel data. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 3(3), 125-139.
- Scott, J. H. (1976). A theory of optimal capital structure. The Bell Journal of Economics, 33-54.
- Serrasqueiro, Z., & Caetano, A. (2015). Trade-Off Theory versus Pecking Order Theory: capital structure decisions in a peripheral region of Portugal. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 16(2), 445-466.
- Serrasqueiro, Z., & Nunes, P. M. (2014). Financing behaviour of Portuguese SMEs in hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 43, 98-107.
- Shubita, M. F., & Alsawalhah, J. M. (2012). The relationship between capital structure and profitability. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(16).
- Soumadi, M. M., & Hayajneh, O. S. (2012). Capital structure and corporate performance empirical study on the public Jordanian shareholdings firms listed in the Amman stock market. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 8(22).
- Stiglitz, J. E. (1974). On the irrelevance of corporate financial policy. The American Economic Review, 851-866.
- Stiglitz, J. E. (1988). Why financial structure matters. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2(4), 121-126.
- Tang, C.-H. H., & Jang, S. S. (2007). Revisit to the determinants of capital structure: A comparison between lodging firms and software firms. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 26(1), 175-187.
- Titman, S., & Wessels, R. (1988). The determinants of capital structure choice. The Journal of Finance, 43(1), 1-19.
- Tong, S., & Ning, Y. (2004). Does capital structure affect institutional investor choices? The Journal of Investing, 13(4), 53-66.
- Wald, J. K. (1999). How firm characteristics affect capital structure: an international comparison. Journal of Financial Research, 22(2), 161-187.
- Warner, J. B. (1977). Bankruptcy costs: Some evidence. The Journal of Finance, 32(2), 337-347.
- Welch, I. (2004). Capital structure and stock returns. Journal of Political Economy, 112(1), 106-131.
- Yousef, I. (2019). The Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from GCC and UK Real Estate Sectors. Real Estate Management and Valuation, 27(2), 108-125.