Impact of idiosyncratic and macroeconomic risks on capital structure: evidence from SADC countries
African Journal of Economic and Management Studies
ISSN: 2040-0705
Article publication date: 21 June 2021
Issue publication date: 18 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of idiosyncratic and macroeconomic risks on capital structure on SADC countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing data from the African Financials database, the analysis is conducted over a ten year period spanning from 2009 to 2018 for 309 companies. Unit Root Fisher Chi-Square test and Granger Causality test were employed to test for unidirectional and bidirectional relationships cross-sectionally. To resolve endogeneity issues, System GMM was used as main topology for panel regression analysis.
Findings
The study confirmed that companies become risk averse when there is an increase in idiosyncratic and macroeconomic risk and therefore take less leverage. According to the perking order theory, a higher variability in earnings shows that the bankruptcy probability amplifies. Hence, institutions with high income employ more internal finance during periods of high idiosyncratic and macroeconomic uncertainty thereby lowering leverage. A positive significant and statistically relationship is also confirmed between idiosyncratic risk and leverage in Botswana, South Africa and Tanzania. Companies with higher leverage make riskier investment in line with the trade-off theory. In short, executives from the SADC region consider more importance to fluctuations in risk while accelerating or diminishing leverage in their capital structure.
Originality/value
The study is among one of the pioneering work underpinning the idiosyncratic risk and macroeconomic risk on capital structure and relying on a large number of companies across the SADC region. In this respect, it adds contribution to the existing literature on risks and capital structure to the socio-economic goals of the SADC region.
Keywords
Citation
Marcelle Amelot, L.M. and Subadar Agathee, U. (2021), "Impact of idiosyncratic and macroeconomic risks on capital structure: evidence from SADC countries", African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 400-422. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-01-2021-0028
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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