How the Capital Structure Affects the Firm Performance of Real Estate Listed Companies Between 2010 to 2020 in China

Abstract

The financial structure of a firm is often regarded as the most essential factor influencing its operating performance. The real estate industry, as an important part of China's current national economy, is a typical capital-intensive industry with a large demand for capital. However, the industry's characteristics lead to a relatively slow return of capital in the real estate industry, putting pressure on the industry's financing capacity and capital structure. This paper divides the capital structure into two components: gearing ratio and debt structure, and takes China's real estate listed companies from 2010 to 2020 as a sample. The influence of capital structure on the performance of listed companies is examined empirically. It is found that there is a non-linear relationship between gearing and firm performance, i.e. an inverted U-shaped relationship. This paper still holds after robustness tests such as variable substitution, which are hoped to be useful for business performance, future government regulation and policy implementation.