Determinants of the capital structure of listed Vietnamese companies

This paper provides the first insights into the capital structure of listed companies in Vietnam, one of the most dynamic economies in the Asia-Pacific region. We employ a panel GMM (generalized method of moments) system estimator to analyse the determinants of the capital structure of non-financial firms listed on either the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange or the Hanoi Stock Exchange for the period 2007-11. We conclude that, despite the emergence in recent years of equity and a corporate debt capital market, the capital structure of Vietnamese enterprises is still dominated by the use of short-term financing sources. Further, our results show that state-controlled enterprises continue to have preferential access to finance and that high-growth firms still rely principally on external debt rather than equity issuance. These results indicate that policy-makers need to continue to pursue policies that will deepen capital markets and ensure that bank finance is allocated on a purely commercial basis. (J SEA Econ/GIGA)