Do Firms Rebalance Their Capital Structures?

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Finance
Year: 2005
Volume: 60
Issue: 6
Pages: 2575-2619

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We empirically examine whether firms engage in a dynamic rebalancing of their capital structures while allowing for costly adjustment. We begin by showing that the presence of adjustment costs has significant implications for corporate financial policy and the interpretation of previous empirical results. After confirming that financing behavior is consistent with the presence of adjustment costs, we find that firms actively rebalance their leverage to stay within an optimal range. Our evidence suggests that the persistent effect of shocks on leverage observed in previous studies is more likely due to adjustment costs than indifference toward capital structure.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:jfinan:v:60:y:2005:i:6:p:2575-2619
Journal Field
Finance
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29