The impact of firm-specific determinants on the capital structure of Dutch listed and non-listed companies

This research investigated to what extent can the firms-specific determinants explain a difference in the capital structure of Dutch listed and non-listed companies. The sample consists of 77 Dutch listed and 308 non-listed companies within the period 2015 to 2019. The data was collected from the Orbis database. The results indicate that profitability, tangibility, liquidity, non-debt tax shields, firm size, growth, business risk, and listings status all have a significant effect on the capital structure of Dutch companies. Multiple significant differences were found between listed and non-listed companies. Listed companies are larger, have higher non-debt tax shields and have more business risk, while non-listed companies have more tangible assets and growth opportunities. Furthermore, listed companies are not more profitable or more liquid than non-listed companies. In addition, non-listed companies have significantly more total and short-term debt, while listed companies have slightly more long-term debt. Furthermore, differences in effect between listed and non-listed companies were found for the firm-specific determinants profitability, tangibility, liquidity, non-debt tax shields, and firm size. Finally, no significant differences were found between listed and non-listed companies for both growth opportunities and business risk. In addition, all differences remain robust in the robustness check.