How country affects the capital structure choice: literature review and criticism

Recent international financial research finds that not only firm- and industry-specific determinants, but also country-specific factors influence a firm’s capital structure. The paper’s aim is twofold. Firstly, it proposes a systematic view of the international studies on country effect since 2000, by highlighting both similarities and differences in terms of tested hypotheses, country-level determinants, expected relationships. The main outcome is a complete framework of the country characteristics, which mostly affect the capital structure choice as well as their respective theoretical rationale. Secondly, based on the above review, some areas of potential development in empirical testing will be identified, regarding test design, sample selection, dependent variable measurement, statistical methodology: the paper’s objective is to critically discuss the state of the art in this field, to hopefully improve the empirical testing of country effect on leverage in further research.