Factors determining capital structure: Evidence from Companies listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange

Abstract

This paper investigates the factors influencing capital structure of the companies listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) during 2011-2018. Factors tested included non-debt tax shield, firm size, tangible fixed assets structure, and profitability based on previous studies and the two prominent capital structure theories namely the trade-off theory and the pecking-order theory. We used the variable financial leverage (LEV) to measure capital structure. The analysis employs multiple linear panel regression models in examining factors influencing capital structure, the random effect model (REM) obtained by table data processing was found to be consistent with the study data. Our results revealed that profitability and non-debt tax shield had a negative impact on capital structure. On the other hand, firm size exhibited a positive impact whilst the effect of tangible fixed assets was statistically insignificant. Amongst all tested factors, non-debt tax shield was shown to exert the greatest influence on capital structure of companies. We conclude that the factors influencing capital structure of the companies listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange are mostly consistent with the hypothesis of trade-off theory rather than pecking-order theory. Our results support the trade-off theory because large firms are more likely to borrow to greater benefits from the tax shield. The study greatly contributes towards the enrichment of empirical evidence on the factors influencing capital structure and helps the management with planning, making properly informed decisions to improve the firm performance.