Impact of Ownership Structure and Corporate Governance on Capital Structure of Nepalese Listed Companies

Abstract

This study examines the impact of ownership structure and corporate governance on capital structure of Nepalese listed companies. It shows that board composition and CEO duality have a positive relationship with the capital structure of Nepalese companies indicating that higher the board composition and CEO duality, higher would be the leverage and long term debts to total assets. Likewise, women directors and number of board members have positive relationship with capital structure variables which reveals that higher the number of women directors and number of board members, higher would be the leverage and long term debts to total assets. The result also shows that institutional shareholding and managerial shareholding have positive relationship with capital structure variables. Similarly, size, age and return on assets also have positive relationship with capital structure variables. This indicates that higher the size, age and return on assets, higher would be the leverage and long term debts to total assets. However, board size has negative relationship with capital structure variables. This reveals that higher the board size, lower would be the leverage and long term debts. The regression result reveals that beta coefficients for board composition and women directors have positive and significant impact on capital structure of Nepalese listed companies. The result also shows the positive and significant impact of board meeting and managerial shareholding on capital structure. Likewise, firm size, age of the firm and return on assets also have positive and significant impact on capital structure of Nepalese listed companies.