The Effect of International Capital Flows on Corporate Capital Structures: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

This study examines the effect of international capital flows on corporate capital structures in Vietnam by analyzing panel data from all non-financial listed firms from 2005 to 2014 using pooled ordinary least square (OLS) with a variance estimator. The analysis includes a comparison of the signs and significance of the variable coefficients from the perking order and static trade-off theories to the empirical results to determine the optimum approach to the corporate capital structure given Vietnam's high-inflation environment. The results indicate that international capital flows have a positive relation to the debt ratio in the long term, and the relationship is more robust for 2005-2009 than for 2010-2014. Corporate capital structures adjusted to changes in the business environment in different sub-periods (2005-2009 and 2010-2014). When the economic environment became more favorable, the pecking order theory's predictive power increased, and that of trade-off theory lessened. Manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms required different capital structure decisions to fuel their operations and grow under foreign competition. The analysis demonstrates that firms should intensify their use of long-term debt relative to the availability of capital, which is an implication not only for firms in particular but also for industrial innovation overall.