Determinants of corporate debt structure in a privately dominated debt market: a study of the Spanish capital market

To date, corporate debt structure research has focused largely on national debt markets characterized by both public and private debts supplies. However, given that most national debt markets are characterized by the absence of public debt supply, the representative debt market of Spain is used to extend the research on corporate debt structure. A double-hurdle test approach reveals that the likelihood of using bank debt is positively related to firm size and information availability but negatively related to firm credit worthiness, while the likelihood of using non-bank private debt is positively related to firm size, growth potential, relative firm size and degree of leverage. Further, it is found that the amount of bank debt firms hold is positively related to firm size, growth potential, information asymmetry, and age but negatively related to information availability. The amount of non-bank private debt is positively related to firm size but negatively to growth potential and age. Moreover, it is found that though some roles of private debt providers are similar in the two distinct national debt markets, some roles of public debt suppliers are supplanted by non-bank private debt suppliers in a debt market bereft of public debt supply.