Long and Short-Run Capital Structure Dynamics in the UK - An Industry Level Study
46 Pages Posted: 3 Dec 2007 Last revised: 21 Apr 2009
Date Written: July 2007
Abstract
Despite significant theoretical and empirical developments in the capital structure literature, the trade-off theory and the related question of the optimality of the gearing ratio remain the subject of intense debate. The pecking order theory emerged to directly contrast with the implications of the trade-off theory. This paper investigates whether industry-optimal gearing ratio targeting behavior arises in the long run while a hierarchy of financing (or pecking order) arises in the short run. The relationship between components of common corporate gearing ratios is investigated using a Johansen co-integration methodology. Evidence of target adjustment is found, though only with respect to certain gearing ratios. Further, adjustment speed coefficients of the error correction representation imply that UK firms close the majority of any deviation from the target with retained earnings rather than external financing. However, while firms in mature industries appear to close the second largest part of any deviation with debt, firms in younger industries appear to close the second largest part of any deviation with equity. A general version of the pecking order theory can reconcile these results.
Keywords: Capital Structure, Trade-off, Pecking Order, Optimal Dynamic Debt Equity Choice, UK Quoted Firms, Cointegration of Capital Structure Ratio Components
JEL Classification: G32, G15
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
What Do We Know About Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data
By Raghuram G. Rajan and Luigi Zingales
-
The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field
By John R. Graham and Campbell R. Harvey
-
The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: The Data
By John R. Graham and Campbell R. Harvey
-
Market Timing and Capital Structure
By Malcolm P. Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler
-
Market Timing and Capital Structure
By Malcolm P. Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler
-
Testing Tradeoff and Pecking Order Predictions About Dividends and Debt
By Eugene F. Fama and Kenneth R. French
-
Testing Static Trade-Off Against Pecking Order Models of Capital Structure
-
Optimal Capital Structure Under Corporate and Personal Taxation
By Harry Deangelo and Ronald W. Masulis