The determinants of the capital structure of construction sector in Malaysia: evidence from panel data analysis / Zul Hairi Amiro Zakaria

The present study empirically analyzed the capital structure determinants of listed construction companies in Bursa Malaysia from 2005 to 2018 using panel data method. There are altogether 44 construction firms listed on Main Board of Bursa Malaysia. This samples of data derived from financial statements of only 20 companies with a number of observations total 279. Specifically, the empirical analysis focused on whether liquidity, profitability, effective tax rates, size and growth affect the debt level (leverege) of the construction companies in Malaysia. The empirical analysis found size of firm’s and growth shows positive relationship with leverage. The results also discovers that size has influence the most on the debt among construction companies, whereas liquidity and proftability were found to be negatively related with leverage. Besides, only effective tax rates shows insignificant result with leverage.