Background: SME constitutes to 99,9% of business in Sweden. A central aspect of running a business is to grow, Previous research shows that access to external funds is a limitation for SMEs ability to create growth and therefore capital structure can vary between companies.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the financial sources that are of greatest significance for SMEs with positive and negative growth. The purpose is also to investigate whether there are micro and macroeconomic factors that affect the growth of Swedish SMEs. Method: This study has been conducted using a quantitative approach and a random sample of 121 SME from all of Sweden’s stock markets. The research period lasted for 6 years, from 2017 to 2022. In operationalizing the variables, previous research was used, were as the dependent variable was growth in net sales. Multiple regression analysis has been conducted to see if any independent variables had any effect on the growth in net sales.  Results: The result from this study indicates that the percentage of debt and equity are almost the same for SME:s with positive and negative growth. Similar to previous studies this result indicates that the internal cashflow is not enough to finance growth. External finance is therefore crucial to create growth. The external finance with the biggest positive impact on SME:s with positive growth are equity and long-term debt. The external finance with the biggest positive impact on SME:s with negative growth is short-term debt. The conclusion from this study is that the internal cashflow has the biggest impact in determining whether the external finance have a positive or negative impact on net revenue.  This study also found that micro-economic factors affect SME:s. The present study found that younger SME:s has a higher growth rate. Size has a positive effect on SME:s. Out of the macro-economic factors that were used in the study, only business cycle had a significant effect on growth rate.  The result from this study found that pecking order theory is better to describe the capital structure of SME than trade off theory, but both theories are relevant in explaining SMEs options of financial sources. / Bakgrund: Små- och medelstora företag (SME) utgör 99,9% av företagen i Sverige. En central del för företag är att växa. Tidigare forskning visar att tillgången till externt kapital är en begränsande faktor för SMEs tillväxt. Det kan därför variera hur företag strukturerar sin finansiering. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka finansieringskällor som är av störst betydelse för SME med positiv- och negativ tillväxt. Syftet är också att undersöka om det finns mikro- och makroekonomiska faktorer som påverkar tillväxten i svenska SME. Metod: Studien har genomförts med ett kvantitativt angreppssätt. Urvalet har skett slumpmässigt, där det slutgiltiga urvalet av populationen bestod av 121 SME från samtliga svenska börser. Undersökningsperioden sträcker sig över 6 år från 2017 till 2022. I operationaliseringen av variablerna har forskarna använt sig av tidigare forskning där den beroende variabeln är nettoomsättningstillväxt. Flertalet regressionsanalyser har genomförts för att kontrollera de oberoende variablernas påverkan på nettoomsättningstillväxt. Resultat: Resultatet från studien visar att andelen skulder och eget kapital för de båda undersökningsgrupperna är relativt lika. Likt tidigare studier indikerar resultatet på att det interna kassaflödet inte räcker för att finansiera tillväxt. Extern finansiering blir därför avgörande för att skapa tillväxt. För företag med positiv tillväxt är de externa finansieringskällorna med störst positiv betydelse eget kapital och långfristiga skulder. För företag med negativ tillväxt är kortfristiga skulder den externa finansieringskällan med störst positiv betydelse. Slutsatsen är att det interna kassaflödet är av störst betydelse för huruvida externa finansieringskällor har en positiv eller negativ påverkan på nettoomsättningstillväxt. Denna studie fann att mikroekonomiska faktorer påverkar SME. Den aktuella studien fann att yngre SME har högre tillväxt. Storleken påverkar tillväxten positivt. Av de makroekonomiska faktorerna som användes i studien är det enbart konjunktur som är signifikant. Resultatet från studien indikerar på att pecking order-teorin bättre kan tolka resultatet än trade off-teorin, men det går att argumentera för att båda teorierna är relevanta för att förklara SMEs finansieringskällor.

Titel: Sambandet mellan finansiell kris och bolags kapitalstruktur Författare: Nancy Nasrat och Valentina Daoud Bakgrund: Den finansiella krisen 2008 hade stor effekt på små och medelstora bolags kapitalstruktur och dess förändring inom den finansiella branschen. Orsaken till krisen var investeringsbanken Lehman Brothers kollaps. Under krisen var det egna kapitalet lågt bland finansiella bolag. Bolagen förlorade kapital och det egna kapitalet de hade var inte tillräckligt att täcka förlusterna. Detta bidrog till att bolagens externa kapital ökade och innebar att bolagens sårbarhet ökade i den finansiella branschen. Syfte: Beskriva och analysera om det finns ett samband mellan den finansiella krisen 2008 och kapitalstrukturen hos ett urval onoterade bolag. Metod: En kvantitativ metod tillämpades som innebär en mätning av variabler. Studien bygger på ett deduktivt tillvägagångsätt som analyserar kapitalstrukturen hos onoterade små och medelstora bolag inom bank-, finans- och försäkringsbranschen. Den analytiska metoden som användes var regressionsanalys. Analysen utfördes med hjälp av databaserna Retriever Business och SPSS. För att utföra regressionsanalysen valdes en beroende variabel och tre oberoende variabler. Den beroende variabeln som valdes var skuldsättningsgrad. De oberoende variablerna var soliditet, eget kapital och avkastning på total kapital. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet visar att medelvärdet på skuldsättningsgraden var högre under den globala finansiella krisen än efter krisen. Skuldsättningsgraden minskade efter krisen vilket gjorde att de finansiella riskerna minskade, detta kunde ses som en positiv förändring. I förhållande till skuldsättningsgraden hade soliditet störst inflytande på kapitalstrukturen. I enlighet med regressionsanalysen hade soliditet störst varians gentemot skuldsättningsgraden i jämförelse med resterande studerade variabler. / Title: The relationship between a financial crisis and a company's capital structure. Author: Nancy Nasrat and Valentina Daoud Background: The financial crisis of 2008 had a major effect on the capital structure of small and medium-sized companies and its change within the financial industry. The cause of the crisis was the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. During the crisis, equity was low among financial companies. The companies lost capital and the equity they had was not enough to cover the losses. This contributed to the companies' external capital increasing and meant that the companies' vulnerability increased in the financial industry. Purpose: The aim of the study is to escribe and analyze whether there is a connection between the financial crisis of 2008 and the capital structure of a selection of unlisted companies. Method: A quantitative method was applied which involves a measurement of variables. The study is based on a deductive approach that analyzes the capital structure of unlisted small and medium-sized companies in the banking, finance, and insurance industries. The analytical method used was regression analysis. The analysis was performed using the databases Retriever Business and SPSS. To perform the regression analysis, one dependent variable and three independent variables were selected. The dependent variable chosen was debt-to-equity ratio. The independent variables were equity ratio, equity and return on total capital. Results and conclusion: The result shows that the average value of the leverage ratio was higher during the global financial crisis than after the crisis. The leverage ratio decreased after the crisis, which meant that the financial risks decreased, this could be seen as a positive change. In relation to the debt-to-equity ratio, the equity ratio had the greatest influence on the capital structure. In accordance with the regression analysis, solvency had the largest variance compared to the debt ratio in comparison with the remaining studied variables.

Bakgrund och problem: Beträffande de svenska fastighetsbolagen finns det ett tomrum i studier gällande vilka faktorer som ligger bakom valet av kapitalstruktur. För bolag med hög skuldsättningsgrad som vill utnyttja hävstångseffekten blir lånat kapital viktigt, men om nu möjligheten till att finansiera sig är begränsad, vilka alternativa finansieringsformer finns då mot den traditionella bankkrediten? Skulle det vara bättre för bolagen att enbart använda sig av eget kapital för att slippa räntekostnaderna? Eftersom bankerna i samband med finanskrisen 2008 och den pågående eurokrisen tvingats strama åt sin kreditgivning. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur svenska fastighetsbolags kapitalstruktur förändrats över en angiven period samt beskriva tänkta bakomliggande orsaker. Avgränsningar: Studien har avgränsats sig till fastighetsbranschen och svenska fastighetsbolag. Vidare har studien avgränsats till bolag som varit börsnoterade på Stockholmsbörsen från 2005 till 2012 med huvudverksamhet inriktad på fastighetsförvaltning och uthyrning. I de bakomliggande orsakerna till de alternativa finansieringsformerna har studien avgränsats till risk, finanskrisen, eurokrisen och val av strategi. Finansieringsformer inom ”off-balance sheet” har inte behandlats eftersom dessa inte har någon påverkan på kapitalstrukturen. Metod: För att kunna besvara studiens problemformulering har studien valt att använda en kvantitativ undersökning på Sveriges 11 största fastighetsbolag. Med hjälp av respektive bolags årsredovisningar har studien funnit nödvändig information. Innan den empiriska undersökningen i årsredovisningarna genomfördes gjordes en litterär förstudie. Resultat och slutsatser: Studien har kommit fram till att allt fler bolag tenderar att söka sig till alternativa finansieringsformer mot den traditionella bankkrediten. Slutsatsen av detta är att bankernas kreditåtstramning och nya direktiv är en bidragande faktor. Förslag till fortsatta studier Att utföra en liknande forskning fast på bolag i en annan bransch. Hur skulle utvecklingen av kapitalstrukturen se ut för bolag med större andel immateriella tillgångar. Exempelvis ett It-bolag och undersöka hur utvecklingen kring deras egna- och räntebärande kapital sett ut och varför. Nyckelord: finansiering, kapitalstruktur, trade-off teorin, pecking order teorin, soliditet, bankkredit, obligationer och främmande kapital

Det låga ränteläget som råder i samhället har skapat möjligheter för svenska företag att finansiera sig genom att emittera företagsobligationer. Obligationslån har under senare år blivit en allt vanligare finansieringsform och har i viss utsträckning ersatt traditionella banklån. Studien undersöker marknadsreaktionerna när ett börsnoterat svenskt företag annonserar om en obligationsutgivning och om företagsspecifika faktorer kan påverka eventuella marknadsreaktioner. För att undersöka marknadens reaktioner vid meddelande om obligationsutgivning användes en eventstudie där icke-finansiella svenska börsnoterade bolag under åren 2000-2015 undersöktes. Resultaten av eventstudien kan inte visa att det sker en marknadsreaktion i perioden före eller i samband med att en obligationsemittering offentliggörs. Däremot sker en negativ marknadsreaktion i perioden efter meddelandet. Vidare indikerar studien på att företagens storlek och bransch, men inte andelen materiella tillgångar och förändring i skuldsättningsgrad, kan påverka hur stark reaktionen blir.

This thesis examines capital structure theories and debt level determinants to develop a better understanding, and to establish the most appropriate theory to explain the behaviour of firms‟ debt and equity choices. It tests three major capital structure theories (e.g. the trade-off, pecking order and market timing theories) using static and dynamic statistical models and 13 capital structure determinants, based on three major capital structure theories. The study uses 4,598 sample companies from 11 countries and 27 industries over a 20 year period. This method provides a clear insight into firms‟ debt and equity choice behaviours. The static trade-off theory is tested by first searching for similarities and differences between industries, countries and time periods and, second, by observing whether firms change their capital structures towards optimal levels and whether the coefficient signs are the same as the predictions. The "stock price effect‟ on debt levels is used to examine the pecking order and market timing theories. The pecking order theory is likewise tested by confirming whether firms issue debt when they face a financial deficit. Furthermore, these theories are tested using cluster analyses. The sample examines 11 different characteristics, which include firm size, debt level, and bankruptcy probability. As each characteristic is related to one or more capital structure theories, the most appropriate theory can be derived, based on such characteristics. There are five main findings. First, firms which are financial stable issue relatively more debt. Second, they have a preference for moderate debt levels and thus limit their bankruptcy probability. They also try to exploit opportunities from overestimated stock price by issuing stocks to increase cash inflows. Third, the effects from bankruptcy costs are greater than transaction costs in terms of capital structure adjustment. Fourth, during the sample period, firms continuously decrease leverage levels. Fifth, firms‟ characteristics and macro-economic factors affect their capital structure. There are three main conclusions. First, the behaviour of firms appears generally aligned with the trade-off theory, although the pecking order and market timing theories also partially explain the equity issuance condition. Second, the "equity and debt choice modes‟ can likewise be explained by the use of a theoretically combined approach, using the three major capital structure theories. In this approach, firms increase their value by both increasing debt for tax benefits and low adverse selection costs, and by issuing equity when the stock price is high. Third, this second conclusion implies that the trade-off, pecking order and market timing theories can be combined on the assumption that firms maximise their values under conditions of the existence of asymmetric information, tax shields and bankruptcy probability.

Tests of the static trade-off theory that posits that firms move towards the optimum capital structure necessitate a joint hypothesis test - whether firms adjust toward target leverage, and whether the proxy used for target leverage is the true target leverage. Prior studies use the time-series mean leverage for each firm, the industry median leverage, an estimated cross-sectional leverage, and a tobit estimated leverage using the factors suggested by the static trade-off theory as proxies for the target leverage. In this dissertation, I examine whether these proxies are equivalent and test the consistency of the proxies with the theorized behavior of the true target leverage. My results indicate that the four proxies we examine have significantly different distributions and this holds across most industries. Further, the industry median leverage is the proxy which best exhibits behavior consistent with the true target leverage. Firm value is higher for firms closer to the industry median and lower for firms away from the industry median. A robustness check using Kmeans cluster analysis confirms the superiority of the industry median leverage over the other proxies of target leverage. This study complements the previous studies on the pecking order theory and the trade-off theory. The main purpose of this study is to investigate three issues that are not considered in the previous studies. The adequacy of the specification and the assumptions of the models used in testing the trade-off and the pecking order theory. The second issue examined in this study is the validity to putting the pecking order and the trade-off theories in a horse race. The final issue examined in this study is the factors driving firms to issue (repurchase) debt or equity or combination of both and simultaneously the factors affecting the size of issue (repurchase)

No description available.

The real estate industry is one of the oldest sectors in the world, having existed almost as long as humans have roamed around the earth. Despite the social system in place, the ownership of land and buildings has always been a great source of prosperity to their owner. In addition to creating profit, the real estate sector also contributes to the health of the economy and to the well-being of people by providing necessities such as properties to organizations and individuals and by facilitating economic activities. This panel data study fills a knowledge gap by examining the development of large Swedish real estate companies’ capital structures between the years 2009 and 2017. The research tries to comprehend how the structures have changed during the business cycle following the financial crisis. The sample, consisting of 901 large stock companies, also tries to explain why these changes have occurred by analyzing which factors determine the development of the capital structure. Variables Return of Equity (ROE), Return of Assets (ROA), Assets, Number of Employees, Cost of Debt, Debt Coverage ratio (ICR), Interest Rates, and Stock Index are statistically tested in order to identify relationships between leverage and the given variables. The findings concerning the development of leverage ratios indicate that the Swedish firms, regardless of the amount of debt they possess, are deleveraging. Although the growth trend changes are subtle, they give evidence against the common belief that firms are packing up more debt. Relationships between the variables were all significant except for the relationships between Leverage/Interest Rates and Leverage/Stock Index which yielded conflicting results. Positive relationships were identified between Leverage/Assets, Leverage/ROE, Leverage/ICR, and Leverage/Interest Rates. The associations between the variables Leverage/Employees, Leverage/ROA, Leverage/Cost of Debt, and Leverage/Stock Index were negative. Although most results are in line with the previous research, some surprises were also discovered. Considering the fact that the Swedish market is relatively poorly understood, the area of real estate capital structure determinants still requires further research to understand what truly drives firms to change their debt and equity composition.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:25:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Glauber Marques Correa.pdf: 337100 bytes, checksum: 19695eed2adc47b95d5ca491faeae6db (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-22 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The way companies are financed has been an object of study, mainly after the 1958 theorem from Modigliani e Miller was published, in wich the authors stated that,under certain circumstances, a company´s value is unaffected by how it is financed capital structure irrelevance hypothesis. Thereafter, there have been many studies on the subject, enabling the emergence of several theories that intend to explain how companies search for their optimal capital structure.Among those theories, there is the very influential Pecking Order, also called Hierarchy of Sources Structure. It is an important proposal that aims to explain the decisions concerning funding and the capital structures of companies. Assuming the asymmetry of information between managers and investors (since managers know more about the prospects, risks, and values of their respective companies than external investors). Myers and Majluf (1984) claim that the formation of capital structure by companies is based on a hierarchy of sources called Pecking Order Theory, in wich the investment is financed primarily by internally generated funds (mainly reinvested); then for new issues of debt securities; and finally, for new issues of shares.This paper, by using a data template in which companies are grouped according to their size, profitability and growth, aims to verify if in financing the financial debt of Brazilian companies listed on BMF&BOVESPA the expected results of the Pecking Order Theory will be present.The results show that none of the samples showed adherence to the predictions of theory, and the sample of large companies was the one closest to this condition. There was also a low level of a secondary emission of shares, indicating that may be other ways of funding the financial shortfall that not only debt and equity. / A forma de financiamento das empresas tem sido objeto de estudo, com maior enfoque, desde a publicação do artigo de Modigliani e Miller em 1958, no qual afirmavam que, sob determinadas circunstâncias, o valor da empresa não era afetado pela sua estrutura de capital. A partir desse artigo pioneiro, muitos estudos foram efetuados, permitindo o surgimento de diversas teorias que pretendem explicar como as empresas buscam o seu nível adequado de financiamento. Dentre essas teorias, destaca-se a Pecking Order, também denominada Hierarquia das Fontes. Trata-se de uma importante proposta que visa explicar as decisões de financiamento e as estruturas de capital das empresas. Pressupondo-se a assimetria de informação entre gestores e investidores (uma vez que os gestores sabem mais acerca das perspectivas, riscos e valores das suas respectivas empresas do que os investidores externos), Myers e Majluf (1984) afirmam que a formação da estrutura de capital por parte das empresas está baseada em uma hierarquia de fontes denominada como Pecking Order Theory, na qual o investimento é financiado, em primeiro lugar, por fundos gerados internamente (principalmente lucros reinvestidos); em seguida, por novas emissões de títulos de dívida; e finalmente, por novas emissões de ações.Utilizando um Modelo de Dados em Painel, através do agrupamento das empresas segundo seu tamanho, rentabilidade e crescimento, esse artigo propõe-se a verificar se o financiamento do déficit financeiro das empresas brasileiras listadas na BMF&BOVESPA segue as previsões da Pecking Order Theory.Os resultados obtidos demonstram que nenhuma das amostras apresentou aderência às previsões da Teoria, sendo que a amostra de grandes empresas foi a que mais se aproximou dessa condição. Também se verificou um nível baixo de emissão secundária de ações, indicando que pode haver outras formas de financiamento do déficit financeiro que não apenas dívida e emissão de ações.

Past literature attempts to resolve the issue of the motivation behind managers' choice of a given capital structure. Despite several decades of intensive research, there is still no consensus about which theory dominates capital structure decisions. The present study empirically investigates the relative importance of two prominent theories of capital structure- the trade-off and the pecking order theories by exploring the conditions under which each theory can explain the financing choices of firms. These conditions are defined along two dimensions: (i) a firm's degree of information asymmetry, and (ii) its observed leverage relative to target leverage. The results show that, in the short-run, pecking order theory has more explanatory power in explaining the financing choices of firms. The target leverage theory assumes limited importance: Over-leveraged firms, when faced with low adverse information, are more inclined to adapt to the trade-off policies. In the presence of high information asymmetry, however, firms appear to be more concerned about adverse selection costs and make financing decisions that are more consistent with the pecking order theory. An analysis of the market reaction to seasoned equity issuances during announcement periods reveals that firms with high information asymmetry are penalized more than firms with low information asymmetry. This may explain the contradiction when over-leveraged firms continue to issue debt. However, the situation is reversed in the long run. Firms' long term financing goals appear to follow the leverage re-balancing theory. An analysis of financial activities over a five-year period, subsequent to security issuance decisions when they appear to be inconsistent with trade-off theory, reveals that firms follow an active policy of moving closer to the target leverage. In sum, the notion of target capital structure appears to exist. In the short-term, the management's financing decisions are consistent with the modified version of the pecking order theory, leading to tactical deviations from the optimal capital structure. However, long-term analysis indicates that the pecking order effect is largely transitory in nature and firms actively pursue strategic reversals towards an optimal capital structure.