Corporate Leverage in Emerging Asia

This paper examines the leverage of firms of seven economies in emerging Asia – Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – between 1991 and 2015. For the sample as a whole, neither the mean nor median, nor the upper tails of the leverage distribution show any upward shift in recent years. Corporate leverage appears quite stable across most jurisdictions, but not all. Standard firm characteristics such as asset tangibility and size explain leverage differences across the whole sample and within jurisdiction. Factors that help to overcome informational asymmetries may be less important in jurisdictions with stronger institutions. Full Publication: 'http://ssrn.com/abstract=2944862' Financial Systems and the Real Economy