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The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which growth-oriented small and micro-businesses (SMBs) are affected by regulations. Case studies from North-West England are used to investigate the relationship between attitudes and responses to regulation and the characteristics of business growth.

This research examines the relationship between regulation and growth using eight case studies of SMBs. The selected cases are proactive in seeking new market opportunities and innovative in terms of product development or business process.

Case studies confirm that owner-managers of SMBs experience high levels of regulatory burden. However, some growth-oriented businesses also recognise the advantages in being proactive in seeking regulatory knowledge. These advantages were particularly prevalent in cases where growth is driven by product innovation in relatively new product markets.

The study is based on a limited number of case studies in one region of England. Even so, interviews facilitate probing to increase understanding of the underlying reasons for attitudes towards regulation. The cases demonstrate that even very small businesses can use regulatory knowledge as a basis for business growth.

The findings suggest that networking in order to engage with regulatory regimes can generate competitive advantages and open up new market opportunities for small businesses.

This research contributes towards the debate on the impact of regulations on the economy at the micro level and in doing so highlights important nuances in the relationship between business growth and the regulatory environment.

This paper aims to seek answers to a primary question: “How much do divergent leverage factors account for fluctuations in time-varying financial leverage in leading hospitality sub-sectors decomposed by four exclusive sub-portfolios?” In the path of seeking answers, this paper investigated the effects of both firm-specific and macroeconomic indicators to firms’ varying financial leverage in those primary sub-sectors overtime.

In each sub-sector portfolios, firms were sorted based on market-to-book values (Mktbk _it ) with median breakpoint percentiles. For hypothesis testing, this paper constructed panel regression models with firm fixed-effects to layout fluctuant financial leverage phenomenon engaged with a set of 11 leverage factors in each Mktbk _it sorted sub-sector portfolios.

Results exhibited assorted evidences. The bottom line was: firms with different market capitalization rates in each portfolio acted differently in regard to the magnitude of financial leverage across time.

The final sample of 415 firms in four sub-sector portfolios sufficiently embraced financial leverage composition in the hospitality industry across time. However, by reason of lack of data in the other intra-hospitality industries, such as gaming and/or cruise lines, findings did not represent the firms operated in those sub-industries.

This paper departed from the established context of the previous literature in the manner that it expects to add to the literature by demonstrating the core drivers causing the deviations in financial structure in four exclusive, hospitality industry sub-sector portfolios with varying leverage proxies overtime.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the impacts of equity market timing on corporate capital structure policies in Indonesia by apply Baker and Wurgler’s analytical approach to firms in Indonesia to see, first, if that approach applies to Indonesian firms and, second, if it can be generalized to other emerging markets.

This study will focus on capital structure policies based on Market Timing Theory in developing countries, which uses the panel data of companies listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange after IPO. The companies used as research object are 70 firms in the non-financial/non-banking sector with the observation period of 2000–2015. The period of measurement is five years after IPO. Using a past market value in which equity market timing is measured in two-time measurements, i.e. yearly timing and long-term timing to prove its persistence.

Consistent with equity market timing theory, the results suggest that firms tend to issue equities when their market valuations are relatively higher than their book values and their past market values are high. As a consequence, the firms become underleveraged or have their debts reduced in the short run. The results of long-term measurement on equity market timing do not appear to affect the firms’ capital structure decisions due to the firms’ relatively quick adjustments of optimal capital structures. The conclusion is that equity market timing is an important element in the short run but not in the long run.

The results of this study describe how firms in Indonesia take advantage of temporary market share fluctuations through equity market timing in their capital structure policies before ultimately making adjustments to the directions they are targeting.

The use of equity market timing is more aimed at reducing the debt ratio and avoiding unfavorable conditions in the debt market, as well as taking advantage of the capital gains derived from the differences in their stock prices. This study also has practical implications on investment policies that need to consider the adaptation factor of the industrial environment when it comes to making capital structure decisions, including how the entity must take policy when uncertain economic conditions.

Through the research behavior of capital structure more in-depth decision is expected to provide an overview for investors widely in determining investment policy. Thus, the investment strategy is more planned and can also anticipate unexpected conditions.

This research is the first study to analyze and to evaluate the impacts of equity market timing on corporate capital structure policies on post-IPO firms in Indonesia. This research is an empirical study that investigates the relevance of equity market timing considerations in the determination of debt-equity choices in the capital structure, included in the conditions of the global financial crisis.

This research began by acknowledging that conventional analysis on the foreign exchange exposure could not adequately reflect firms’ risk management strategies, which firms take actions against uncertainties raised by foreign exchange. In order to conceptualize uncertainty aroused by foreign exchange, the purpose of this paper is to develop an index that could measure corporate profits’ sensitivity to foreign exchange uncertainty and examine its possibility of utilization.

As an alternative to foreign exchange exposure, the present research derived the foreign exchange volatility exposure and analyzed the determinants of foreign currency-denominated debt in terms of foreign exchange volatility exposure. The foreign exchange volatility exposure draws from partially differentiating a firm’s operating profits to the exchange rate volatility.

The major findings are as follows. First, before the Asian financial crisis, South Korean enterprises had similar responses to the exchange volatility exposure as compared with the exchange exposure on procuring foreign-denominated debt. Second, since the global financial crisis (GFC), not only have Korean firms’ response mechanisms to both exposures changed, but also the significance of exchange volatility exposure has been further emphasized. Furthermore, Korean companies have dealt with exchange uncertainties by decreasing foreign-denominated debt as their foreign exchange volatility exposure increased after GFC. In contrast, the influence of conventional exchange exposure on foreign-denominated debt has diminished.

Future research should focus on several points. First, additional research could extend to foreign investors who have divergent perception and consideration in regard to foreign exchange risk management. Second, research on decision making and motivation in foreign currency choice should be conducted in order to deepen academic understanding. Third, research that refines the variables added in the current research should be conducted. Finally, as a way to manage foreign exchange volatility exposure, further investigation based on this study is possible.

The results of this study have several important theoretical and empirical implications for companies’ foreign exchange risk management strategy. First, through foreign exchange volatility exposure, which can usefully take over the role of the existing foreign exchange exposure, the authors can confirm market uncertainty as being relevant to the foreign exchange risk management strategy. Second, through the financial influence that the foreign exchange volatility exposure has on the foreign currency-denominated debt, the authors can observe the Korean firms’ paradigm shifts in their foreign exchange risk management strategies.

This research confirms the importance of foreign exchange volatility exposure in the research works dealing with firms’ exchange risk management, also the possible influence of foreign exchange volatility exposure in the future might be increased as uncertainty is raised from foreign exchange escalating.

Building on pecking order theory, this study seeks to understand the various financial factors that influence top management's decision regarding the company’s capital structure. The authors attempt to understand and analyse whether the capital structure of mid‐ and small‐cap firms is affected by cash surplus scaled to total assets. Along with other determinants of capital structure such as liquidity, profitability, tangibility, market capitalisation and age, this is considered one of the major factors. Cash surplus is calculated using data from the cash flow statement. It is defined as the difference in cash from operating activities and that from investing activities and is scaled to total assets. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to regress cash surplus scaled to total assets and other determinants over leverage to examine the impact on mid‐ and small‐cap firms. The pecking order theory was found to hold for firms earning cash surplus.

Data were collected from the CMIE Prowess database of all firms listed on the NIFTY Small cap 250 index and NIFTY Midcap 150 index. The data of non-financial firms belonging to the midcap and small-cap sector, listed on the National Stock Exchange of India from 2012 to 2019 were considered. After cleaning the data, an unbalanced panel of 171 companies totalling 1,362 observations for the NIFTY Small-cap 250 index and another panel of 96 companies with 761 observations for the NIFTY Midcap 150 index was created. Panel data regression analysis was used to determine the effect of cash surplus scaled to total assets on the firms' capital structure.

This study demonstrates how small- and midcap firms' behave differently in taking capital structure decisions. Pecking order theory was found to hold for firms earning cash surplus as a proportion of total assets (Surplusta).

The study was conducted through data available on secondary sources and database. The study can be better conducted by conducting a primary survey too. Further study may be conducted with a blend of secondary and questionnaire method. The results can be compared to check the similarity in findings.

Managers can benefit from the findings when making decisions on long- and short-term loans. This study can help managers in terms of the financial variables that have a role to play in the financial leverage of the company. The decision of the managers of midcap or small-cap firms would be different. Factors influencing short- and long-term borrowings are different. Academics can discuss whether there is any difference in the influence of capital structure variables of small- and midcap companies and the reasons for such differences. Judicious decisions on capital structure will create wealth for the shareholders as the right decision about leverage would result in a proper cost of capital. The findings also add to the existing literature on the Pecking order theory.

Academics can discuss whether there is any difference in the influence of capital structure variables of small- and midcap companies and the reasons for such differences.

The study extends the existing literature by demonstrating that the capital structure of mid and small-cap firms is affected by cash surplus scaled to total assets. The pecking order theory was found to hold for firms earning cash surplus. This study can inform the practitioners about the financial variables that have a role to play in the company's financial leverage. As the results and significance of the variables of the midcap or small-cap firms are different, the decisions of the managers of these firms would be separate for the capital structure of their firms. The study also infers that the factors influencing short and long-term borrowings are different. The study determines whether managers' decision-making in such companies is different in terms of raising short- and long-term loans. The study attempts to guide managers in considering the different variables that would influence their capital structure decisions, particularly the decision to include debt in the capital. Financial variables need not be of equal importance for managers belonging to small- and midcap companies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the many factors that affect the leverage decisions of publicly traded Australian companies, and tests to see whether these factors are reliably important. The relationship between these factors and the leverage decision is examined.

This study uses a multiple linear panel regressions to study the relationship between the factors and leverage.

The authors find a set of eight factors which are reliably important for capital structure decision making. These factors include: profitability, log of assets, median industry leverage, industry growth, market to book ratio, tangibility, capital expenditure, and investment tax credits. The empirical evidence indicates weakening support for the pecking order hypothesis and increasing support for the trade-off theory in Australia.

This paper examines the determinants of capital structure using Australian firms and provides a comprehensive empirical support for the capital structure theories.

The purpose of this paper is to test static tradeoff against pecking order models of capital structure in Japanese firms.

The static tradeoff and pecking order models are tested on a sample of 1,325 non‐financial Japanese firms between 2002 and 2006.

Empirical results prove that both models can explain some part of the capital structure. The static tradeoff model shows that firm leverage is affected by several determinants, and the pecking order model displays similar movements between net debt retired and financial surplus. However, both models have shortcomings. The static tradeoff model fails to explain the negative correlation between profitability and firm leverage, and the pecking order model fails to explain the low deficit coefficient.

The paper, because of the inconsistent results in prior studies, tests static tradeoff against pecking order models, with the data of Japanese firms.

This paper aims to examine the link between financing patterns, information asymmetry and legal traditions in 37 countries during the 1990‐2004 period.

The analysis is based on three theories: the trade‐off theory, pecking order hypothesis and market timing hypothesis. The authors test the predictions of these theories/hypotheses using regression analysis. The econometric method used is panel data with firm and country fixed effects. The authors develop a modified pecking order model which controls for short‐ and long‐term debt level changes and simultaneously test the predictions of all theories.

Consistent with studies for US firms, the results show that firms across all countries adjust toward the target leverage, but with significantly different rate. The long‐term debt contribution in the rate of adjustment is 64 percent in common law countries and 51 percent in civil law countries. The ability of the model to explain changes in leverage ratios is higher in common law countries. The authors find support for market timing hypothesis but no support for pecking order of financing. These results support their conjecture that stronger investor protection, higher transparency and well‐developed financial markets in common law countries reduce the cost of recapitalization.

The limitation of this study comes from lack of data availability to measure contract enforcement, transparency, and corporate governance variables. Future research can incorporate these variables to explain the differences in capital structure decisions across countries with different legal systems.

The findings show that firms' capital structure decisions are not only a function of their own characteristics but also the result of legal and financial market development in which they operate.

This is the first study that sheds light about rate of adjustment to optimal capital structure and pecking order of financing in 37 countries with different legal traditions and financial market developments. The authors are not aware of any other study that uses a modified pecking order model in an international context.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of capital structure using a dataset of firms in Malaysia.

This paper carries out a panel data analysis of 8,270 observations from 827 listed non-financial firms on the Malaysia stock market over the period 2008–2017. To estimate the model and analyse the data collected from the DataStream and World Bank databases, the authors use static panel estimation techniques as well as two-step difference and system dynamic GMM estimator.

The results show that profitability, growth opportunity, tax-shield, liquidity and cash flow volatility have a negative and significant impact on debt measures. However, the effects of collateral, non-debt tax and earnings volatility on measures of debt are positive and significant. In addition, firm size, firm age, inflation rate and interest rate are important determinants of the present value of debt. The results also show a significant inverse U-shaped relationship between the firm's age and its capital structure. In general, the results support the proposition advocated by the pecking order and trade-off theories.

The results of this study necessitate formulation of various policy measures that can counter the effects of debt on firms.

The present study is among the earliest to use both the book and market value measures of capital structure. It also uses three proxies for each: total debt, long-term debt and short-term debt. It incorporates earning volatility and cash flow volatility as new independent variables in the model. These variables have not previously been used together with both book and market value measures of capital structure. The study also examines the non-monotonic relationship between firm's age and capital structure using a quadratic regression method. It applies both static panel techniques and dynamic GMM estimation techniques to analyse the data.

The purpose of this paper is to test whether Indian firms follow the pecking order theory under situations of deficiency as well as surplus.

The study examines Indian firms included in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 500 index, covering a time span of ten years (2003-2012). An extended model of pecking order theory is tested for deficit and surplus firms separately. The authors use ordinary least square regressions to test the results.

The findings indicate that the pecking order theory is an excellent descriptor for deficit firms, but a poor one for surplus firms. Deficit firms frequently issue debt to fill up deficiency requirements but keep their debt ratios in limit. In marked contrast, surplus firms have low debt to equity ratios and only occasionally redeem debt. They tend to retain funds for future expansion and other operational needs.

The study is limited to firms included in the BSE 500 index, but could be extended to others. Future research work could also focus on debt sub-components.

The present study is useful for firms that are considering capital structure decisions and supports finding that deficit and surplus firms behave differently.

This is the first study separately testing the pecking order between deficit and surplus firms in an emerging market.