Sectoral Analysis of Corporate Capital Structure Choice–Emerging Market Evidence from Sri Lanka

This paper empirically investigates the overall corporate capital structure of the Sri Lankan-listed companies, the determinants in general and the inter-industry differences in particular. The impact of ten determinants has been analyzed cross-sectionally, both for the market as a whole and for each individual industry, to observe any sectoral differences. Though the long-term debt utilization is relatively low in the financial structure of Sri Lankan firms, the variables of capital structure choice are not significantly different from those located in developed markets signaling a positive move towards a market-driven economy. Yet, variations could be seen across industry classes to some extent in terms of their capital structure decisions, confirming the evidences of literature.