Capital Structure andCorporate Governance practices. Evidence from Listed Non-Financial Firms on Nairobi Securities Exchange Kenya.

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of corporate governance on capital structure for firms listed on NSE Kenya. The total population of non-financial firms is 50.A sample of 30 companies whose data for 5 years from 2007-2011 was selected. The study uses five corporate governance proxies: Board size (BS), Ownership concentration (ONC), Institutional share ratio (ISR), CEO duality (CED), Board independence (BI) as independent variables. Four capital structures variables are: Long term debt to asset ratio (LTDA), Short term debt to asset ratio (STDA), Debt equity ratio (DE), and Total debt to asset ratio (TD) as dependent variables. The analysis used both descriptive and inferential analysis where correlation and linear regression were used.An average of 7 directors are on the board of firms with 93% of firms CEO doubling as a director.Using model 1 regression equation positive correlation is shown between TD with corporate governance proxies CED which is significant at 95% significant level. Using model 2 regression equation size of the firmSz taken as natural logarithm of sales as a moderating variable CED is negatively correlated to STD and DE and is significant implying firms tend to adopt pecking order theory to avoid more debt.