Abstract
:Data from China’s credit crunch, which started in 2007, is utilized to establish a natural experiment to investigate the impact of the credit crunch on target capital structures. The sample consists of 1,128 listed companies in China during the period 2000–2011. The interest-bearing debt to total assets ratio is used as a representative indicator for capital structures. The results indicate that the credit crunch was associated with a decrease in the target debt ratios for all listed companies. Small firms, privately owned enterprises, and firms with weak mortgage capabilities responded more sensitively to the credit crunch by showing a substantial decrease in target debt ratios.
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