A Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Firm-Specific and Macroeconomic Factors Influence Capital Structure Decisions: Evidence from Sri Lankan Manufacturing and Telecom Companies (2013-2023).

Abstract

Introduction: Optimal capital structure is important for the sound financial and future growth of any enterprise. This study aims to examine the significant impact of firm specific variables namely profitability, size, tangibility, liquidity and dividend payout policies in combination with macroeconomic variables consisting of; GDP growth rate, interest rate, inflation and exchange rate on the Manufacturing and Telecom firms of CSE for the year 2013-2023. Methodology: The analysis was carried out using panel data regression on a sample of 22 firms, 2 telecom firms and 20 manufacturing firms employing the criteria of market capitalization. All samples were chosen based on available ratios to accomplish the measurement of capital structure using the debt-to-equity ratio, and validity tests were applied to assess the accuracy of the calculations. In addition, the sectoral and combined examinations was conducted to look for difference and difference patterns. Findings: From the findings of the study show that this study finding of this manufacturing sectors represent firm specific characteristics, which show that tangibility and liquidity of the manufacturing firms have significant effects on capital structure decision and that firms with high tangible and high liquid assets utilize least debts. The level of profitability has a strong inverse relationship with leverage and strong positive relationship with dividend and interest rate that may be due to telecommunication infrastructure financing requirements. In the combined sector analysis, tangibility and liquidity are used as the major indexes, and the indexes of macroeconomic environment, including interest rate, exchange rate, inflation, and GDP growth had not been concluded to exert major influence over both sectors. It was also revealed that simply due to these observations, Firm size, Growth, GDP growth, Exchange rate and inflation rates held insignificant impacts across both sectors. Conclusion: This study has shown that firm specific characteristics organizational liquidity tangibility, Dividend and Profitability significantly affect capital structure decisions in the Manufacturing and Telecom industry of Sri Lanka aside from influence by the macroeconomic indicators namely the interest rates. The overall model also shows significance at the 1% level for both the telecom and the manufacturing sectors. These insights vindicate the essentiality of industry-specific financing to give firms the ability to improve their solvency and performance.