Who issues debt securities in emerging countries?

Abstract

This paper focuses on the differences of capital market accessibility and investigates the determinants of firm debt securities issuance in emerging countries. The following results are derived from the empirical analysis. First, country panel analyses showed that the debt securities market development and domestic equity market development were positively related. Second, firm panel data analyses of ASEAN countries suggest that debt securities issuers and frequent equity issuers overlap. Third, analyses of daily stock price data of ASEAN firms reveal that debt securities are not issued for infrequent equity issuers, regardless of the stock price, whereas frequent equity issuers choose debt securities issuance as a funding tool when the stock price is low. Fourth, as compared to accessible frequent equity issuers, market-inaccessible firms are less sensitive to the financial cost of debt securities issuance.Debt Securities Issuance, Asian Bond Market, Corporate Finance