Determinants of Capital Structure: Empirical Evidence from the Czech Republic

This paper analyses determinants of capital structure of listed companies in the Czech Republic during the period from 2000 to 2001. In general, leverage of Czech listed firms is relatively low if measured in book value, but it is relatively high if measured in market value. According to our results, leverage of a firm is positively correlated with size and it is negatively correlated with profitability and tangibility. There is the negative relationship between leverage measured in market value and growth opportunities. Moreover, leverage is positively correlated with tax and negatively correlated with non-debt tax shields, albeit on a lower level of statistical significance. This study also provides evidence concerning the relationship between leverage and industry classification.