Recent international financial research finds that a firm’s capital structure is not only influenced by firm- and industry-specific determinants, but also by country-specific factors. Starting from the last decade’s studies on the country effect and addressing some areas of potential development in empirical testing, we test, on a sample of seven apparently similar European countries and more than 800,000 variously sized firms (from the BACH-ESD database) over a ten year period (2000-2009), the direct effects of country characteristics on leverage, as well as their mediating role on the effects of firm- and industry-specific determinants, by using a simultaneous equation model (SEM) never used before by any scholar in this field. The emerging empirical evidence: i) highlights the relevance of many institutional, financial, and macroeconomic country characteristics; ii) confirms the better ability of banks in selecting, monitoring, and financing small and risky firms; iii) shows that the demand-side perspective can better explain some counter-intuitive effects of some determinants on leverage.

Venanzi, D., Naccarato, A. (2017). The capital structure choice of European firms: the role of financial system and institutional setting. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESEARCH, 10(12), 22-47 [10.5539/ibr.v10n1 2p22].

The capital structure choice of European firms: the role of financial system and institutional setting

Venanzi Daniela
;
Naccarato Alessia
2017-01-01

Abstract

Recent international financial research finds that a firm’s capital structure is not only influenced by firm- and industry-specific determinants, but also by country-specific factors. Starting from the last decade’s studies on the country effect and addressing some areas of potential development in empirical testing, we test, on a sample of seven apparently similar European countries and more than 800,000 variously sized firms (from the BACH-ESD database) over a ten year period (2000-2009), the direct effects of country characteristics on leverage, as well as their mediating role on the effects of firm- and industry-specific determinants, by using a simultaneous equation model (SEM) never used before by any scholar in this field. The emerging empirical evidence: i) highlights the relevance of many institutional, financial, and macroeconomic country characteristics; ii) confirms the better ability of banks in selecting, monitoring, and financing small and risky firms; iii) shows that the demand-side perspective can better explain some counter-intuitive effects of some determinants on leverage.
2017
Venanzi, D., Naccarato, A. (2017). The capital structure choice of European firms: the role of financial system and institutional setting. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS RESEARCH, 10(12), 22-47 [10.5539/ibr.v10n1 2p22].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11590/326293
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