The relationship between capital structure and accounting criteria for evaluating the performance of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange

Capital structure is basically a significant issue in modern financial theory which has drawn the attention of researchers within past few decades. Finance requirement results from two fact. First, value of companies creates demand for financing the purchase of new assets, increase in capacity of plant, employment of new workers, and purchase of raw materials. Second, the finance is determined in terms of financial resources. The present study aims to examine the association between capital structure and accounting and economic standards of performance evaluation of companies enlisted in Tehran Stock Exchange. The independent variable of present study is capital structure (financial leverage) and accounting standards of performance evaluation (i.e. return on assets, the rate of annual stock return, Tobin's Q ratio and the ratio of book to market value) are presumed to be dependent variables. The variable of firm size is regarded as control variable. Data collection method consists of library review and analysis of financial statements. Correlation method and multivariate regression test were used for data analysis. The results of present study suggest that there is a significantly negative association between capital structure and accounting standards of performance evaluation. In addition, the size of company has a significantly negative association with accounting and economic standards of performance evaluation of companies enlisted in Tehran Stock Exchange.