초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Purpose The objective of this study is to investigate which of the two competing theoretic frameworks, pecking order theory or trade-off theory, better explains the corporate debt behavior in the Asia Pacific region. Design/Methodology/Approach - This is a theory of corporate debt behavior that better describes the Asia Pacific region. Firm-specific factors have been analyzed by performing the OLS regression method on a sample of 500 Asia Pacific region listed non-financial companies for the period 2001-2017. Findings - Results first revealed that the debt ratio is negatively related to profitability opportunities, non-debt tax shield, and the firm’s life cycle. Second, the debt ratio is positively related to asset tangibility and the firm’s size. Third, there was no statistically significant relationship between effective tax rate, growth, and risk on debt. Research Implications - Overall, the results show that the financing pattern of Asia Pacific region firms is consistent with the pecking order model. In practice, managers in those companies prefer internal financing to external financing and their behavior may deliver a good signaling effect on investors to confirm an improved profitability and more investment in research and development leading to better firm values.
