Firm-Specific Factors as Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence From Indonesia

The cross-sectional technique of extreme bounds analysis (EBA) is used to identify the determinants of capital structure in a sample of Indonesian shareholding companies. Additional results are presented based on variable deletion and nonnested model selection tests. The results of traditional EBA show that the only robust variable is liquidity, but the results of restricted EBA add three more robust variables: profitability, tangibility, and income variability. However, variable deletion and nonnested model selection tests lend support only to size and liquidity. The conclusion is that most of the variables that appear important in studies of capital structure may not be important at all. From a policy perspective, the finding that some firm-specific factors are relevant to corporate capital structure confirms that financial reform has eliminated the distortions of corporate financial policies and financial markets caused by the previously dominant role of state banks.