Do firms rebalance their capital structures?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Leary, MT; Roberts, MR
• 署名单位: Duke University; University of Pennsylvania
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1082
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2005.00811.x
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 2575-2619
• 关键词: STRUCTURE CHOICE; corporate; debt; BEHAVIOR; determinants; INFORMATION

摘要

We empirically examine whether firms engage in a dynamic rebalancing of their capital structures while allowing for costly adjustment. We begin by showing that the presence of adjustment costs has significant implications for corporate financial policy and the interpretation of previous empirical results. After confirming that financing behavior is consistent with the presence of adjustment costs, we find that firms actively rebalance their leverage to stay within an optimal range. Our evidence suggests that the persistent effect of shocks on leverage observed in previous studies is more likely due to adjustment costs than indifference toward capital structure.