Capital Structure of Nongovernmental Development Organizations: First Cross-Country Evidence

In the first international study of this kind, we analyze the capital structure of 364 nongovernmental development organizations (NGDOs) from three different countries: Belgium, Spain, and the United Kingdom. We observe lower debt ratio values in the United Kingdom, and significant differences between countries were found by testing an econometric model with the five classical determinants of leverage, considering total debt and both long- and short-term debt. We find support for the pecking order theory, and we broadly discuss some possible reasons for the obtained differences.