Macroeconomic factors and corporate capital structure

Abstract

The aim of this study is to indicate the influence of macroeconomic factors on corporate capital structure in different European countries. The recent Global Financial Crisis and the following European debt crisis show the significance of the country financial stability, consequently the efficiency of fiscal and monetary policies, and their impact on the private sector. The macroeconomic policies of a country affect the financial performances of the companies and their future sustainable development and growth. We analyze the influence of external determinants on the corporate capital structure of non-financial manufactured companies based on the evidence from European developed countries and emerging markets for the period 2006–2010, in order to compare the level of the impact on the capital structure according to the countries’ specifics. The managers make their financial decisions according to the source of financing and capital structure based on the company’s advantages and disadvantages, i.e. its internal characteristics, and doubtless on the macroeconomic conditions and country specifics, i.e. external factors. For the purpose of this study the macroeconomic factors are divided into two groups represented fiscal and monetary policies of a country. The correlation and regression techniques are used to identify the relations between these external determinants and capital structure. The findings show the significance of macroeconomic factors in the decision making process regarding capital structure and the source of financing.