Costs of debt, tax benefits and a new measure of non-debt tax shields: examining debt conservatism in Spanish listed firms

In spite of the fact that there is empirical evidence that debt tax benefits add to firm value, additional research is needed to explain the apparently conservative debt policy of many firms. This study exam- ines whether the costs of debt and non-debt tax related issues might shed some light on the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Clemente-Almendros, José A., Sogorb-Mira, Francisco
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Murcia
Repositorio:DIGITUM. Depósito Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Murcia
OAI Identifier:oai:digitum.um.es:10201/74522
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10201/74522
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Capital structure
Costs of debt
Kink
Rating
Non-debt tax shields
Estructura de capital
Coste de la deuda
Calificación
Escudos fiscales alternativos a la deuda
CDU::6 - Ciencias aplicadas::65 - Gestión y organización. Administración y dirección de empresas. Publicidad. Relaciones públicas. Medios de comunicación de masas
Descripción
Sumario:In spite of the fact that there is empirical evidence that debt tax benefits add to firm value, additional research is needed to explain the apparently conservative debt policy of many firms. This study exam- ines whether the costs of debt and non-debt tax related issues might shed some light on the apparent “conservative leverage puzzle” for Spanish listed firms throughout the period 2007–2013. Specifically, we compare the costs of financial distress with the potential tax benefits of debt. In addition, we test whether debt conservativeness, measured by the kink, is explained by different costs of debt and non- debt tax shields. Our findings suggest that the most conservative Spanish listed firms may not be acting sub-optimally with respect to the tax advantage of debt financing. Furthermore, the results obtained are consistent with the belief that debt costs might offset the tax benefits stemming from debt financing, and debt and non-debt tax shields could act as substitutes