Factors influencing Islamic banks’ capital structure in developing economies

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the influence of company-specific attributes on capital structure decisions of Islamic banks (IBs) in Gulf Cooperation council (GCC) countries during the period 2009-2011. Design/methodology/approach To improve the econometric estimates’ efficiency, the paper uses the generalized least square (GLS) regression model to increase the levels of freedom and reduce collinearity. Findings The empirical results indicate that bank size, liquidity and corporate age are positively associated with the leverage ratio of GCC IBs, supporting the trade-off theory. Inconsistent with theoretical predictions, it is found that the profitability, tangibility and growth have positive insignificant relationship with the level of leverage, suggesting these determinants are not important in capital structure decisions. Furthermore, gross domestic product (GDP) and non-debt tax shield have negative effects on the leverage ratio and significant for GDP. Research limitations/implications Overall, the evidence provided in the study highlights the significance of company-specific characteristics in determining and affecting the capital structure decisions of IBs in GCC countries. It is useful to use these variables in the analysis of IBs’ capital structure in the GCC region before the financial crisis in 2007. One limitation for this study is that the sample is restricted to only the Islamic banking sector. Future research could include all Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) operating within the Gulf region. Second, the study only concentrates on GCC countries to the neglect of other countries. Finally, the study controls for the country level only and does not account for firm factors. Future research could consider all these limitations. Another possible avenue is by examining other variables, such as corporate governance mechanisms. Originality/value Despite that most previous studies investigated the determinants of the capital structure of financial conventional industries, research on Islamic banking is almost non-existent. Moreover, the extant literature on Islamic finance has been theoretically explored, and the empirical research regarding capital structure is still in the infancy stage. Accordingly, it is evident that based on the Islamic trade-off perspective, theoretical hypotheses and empirical findings provide a novel addition to the capital structure theory for IFIs.