In search of conclusive evidence: How to test for adjustment to target capital structure

Armen Hovakimian and Guangzhong Li

Journal of Corporate Finance, 2011, vol. 17, issue 1, 33-44

Abstract: Simulation experiments show that both partial-adjustment and debt-equity choice models can generate spuriously significant estimates that are consistent with the hypothesis that firms have target debt ratios to which they periodically adjust. Regressions relying on full-sample fixed effects models of target leverage, in particular, produce results severely biased in favor of the target-adjustment hypothesis. Various target proxies and modifications to the standard methodologies are examined to identify partial-adjustment and debt-equity choice models that have power to reject the target-adjustment hypothesis. The resulting estimates of the speed of adjustment are in the range of five-eight percent per year.

Keywords: Capital; structure; Target; leverage; Adjustment; to; target (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (79)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:corfin:v:17:y:2011:i:1:p:33-44

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