Capital structure of Brazil, Russia, India and China by economic crisis

Abstract

Purpose: Verify the effects of the subprime mortgage crisis on firms with different debt levels. Originality/gap/relevance/implications: The study contributes to the literature by examining the financial capital structure of emerging market companies in a context of crisis, in addition to using a robust econometric tool – the quantile regression. Key methodological aspects: In this work, the quantile regression was used as an analysis tool, and this technique allowed to observe the impacts of the crisis not only in the average level of indebtedness of companies, but also in its extreme values. Therefore, this work is characterized as descriptive, and the analyzed relations are quantitative. Firms were analyzed in Brazil, Russia, India and China. Summary of key results: The results indicate financing strategies, according to the theories of Pecking Order and Trade-off as regards to the level of debt. Key considerations/conclusions: The survey concluded that firms have different financing strategies even in the same country. Thus, the financial performance of firms would be influenced by economic conditions in the country, as well as the existing debt level in each company.