Corporate Governance, Financing Patterns and the Cost of Capital: Evidence from New Zealand Companies
26 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2011 Last revised: 28 Feb 2012
Date Written: December 7, 2011
Abstract
In this paper, we examine the effects of corporate governance mechanisms on the financing policies of New Zealand firms for the period 2004-2008. Using a unique self-constructed corporate governance index and employing the Fama and French (1999) financing model of firms, we find that firms with weak corporate governance mechanisms have more leverage than do firms with strong governance mechanisms. After controlling for the effects among corporate governance components, we observe that firms with different levels of corporate governance quality use different corporate governance mechanisms in relation to their financing policies. Our results suggest that firms can dynamically adjust their leverage as a governance mechanism through compensation policy and shareholder rights.
Keywords: Corporate governance, financing policy, cost of capital
JEL Classification: G30, G32
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation