| Author | Tran Dinh Khoi Nguyen |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.SM-06-09 |
| Subject(s) | Small business--Vietnam--Finance
|
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Capital structure is defined as the relative amount of debt and equity used to finance a firm. Most of empirical studies about capital structure focused on large firms in developed countries although in recent years a few studies have emphasized these issues in small business sector in developing countries. A similar study in the transitional country like Vietnam. therefore, is useful in order to contribute to a picture of capital structure over the world. This studs investigated the features of capital structure, and established the determinants influencing the leverage of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam over the period of 1998-2001. The study has combined data from financial statements and questionnaires given to SMEs' financial managers to explore how Vietnamese SMEs finance their operations. The study examined such determinants as growth, asset structure, business risk. profitability, firm size, ownership, relationship with banks, and networking on three measures of capital structure. namely, debt ratio, short-term debt ratio and other short-term liabilities ratio. Empirical results show that Vietnamese SMEs employ mostly short-term debts to finance their operations and they face difficulties in accessing long-term credits. The state-owned SMEs have employed more debt than non-state SMEs to finance their operations. Debt ratio of SMEs in Vietnam is positively related to growth, business risk, firm's size. networking and relationship with banks; but negatively related to asset structure. Profitability seems to have no significant impact on capital structure in Vietnamese SMEs. Firm's ownership also strongly affects the way SMEs, especially small firms, finance their operations. The strong impact of such determinants as firm's ownership, firm's size, relationships with banks and networking reflects the asymmetric features of fund mobilization process in a transitional economy like Vietnam. Implications for policy makers have been drawn to ensure that all business sectors enjoy the same opportunities to get credits from commercial banks. Directions are also proposed for future research in order to contribute more theoretically to capital structure in developing countries |
| Year | 2006 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management (SOM) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Master of Business Administration (MBA) (Publication code=SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Venkatesh, Sundar |
| Examination Committee(s) | Zimmermann, Willi;Voratas Kachitvichyanukul;Jain, P.K. |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of Switzerland |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2006 |