What Do We Know About Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data

JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Vol. 50 No. 5, December 1995

Posted: 10 Nov 1995

See all articles by Raghuram G. Rajan

Raghuram G. Rajan

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; International Monetary Fund (IMF); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Luigi Zingales

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Abstract

We investigate the determinants of capital structure choice by analyzing the financing decisions of public firms in the major industrialized countries. At an aggregate level, firm leverage is fairly similar across the G-7 countries. We find that factors identified by previous studies as correlated in the cross-section with firm leverage in the U.S., are similarly correlated in other countries as well. However, a deeper examination of the U.S. and foreign evidence suggests that the theoretical underpinnings of the observed correlations are still largely unresolved.

JEL Classification: G15

Suggested Citation

Rajan, Raghuram G. and Zingales, Luigi, What Do We Know About Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data. JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Vol. 50 No. 5, December 1995, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6905

Raghuram G. Rajan (Contact Author)

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Luigi Zingales

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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Belgium

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