engleski

Capital structure determinants of selected ex- Yugoslavia countries

The goal of this paper is to examine the capital structure of selected ex-Yugoslavia countries. These countries share similar historical events that have, among other things, influenced future development directions. It seems as a fruitful study framework to test if there are any determinants that systematically influence companies ́ choice between debt and equity, and consequently, whether existing theories of capital structure can consistently explain their financing behavior. The research sample comprises 18 493 medium, large and very large non- financial and mostly private companies from the following countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, over the period 2009 - 2016. In order to identify the key capital structure determinants of the sampled companies, we used static panel fixed effects model to test the three models of financial leverage: short-term, long-term and total debt. Results indicate that size, profitability, assets tangibility and non-debt tax shield are the dominant firm-specific determinants of capital structure, but their impact on financial behavior varies depending on country subsamples. Such results point to a need for a more detailed analysis of country-specific and macroeconomic variables that potentially cause different financial behavior of observed companies.

capital structure, pecking order theory, trade-off theory, determinants

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