Impact of the cost of capital on the financing decisions of Brazilian companies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the market timing behavior of listed Brazilian companies to verify the effects of the cost of capital on their financing decisions, and hence on their capital structure. Design/methodology/approach - The relation between the cost of capital (debt and equity capital) and the leverage of firms in the period from 2000 to 2011 is analyzed by means of regression models with panel data. For this purpose, different proxies are used for the cost of equity and debt capital. Findings - The results provide strong evidence that Brazilian firms take advantage of windows of opportunity to obtain financing, and that when the cost of equity capital is high, firms appear to follow a pecking order, giving preference to debt financing. However, the decision is based on the cost of alternative sources of funding rather than just on the hierarchy established by the pecking order theory, due to the information asymmetry between market agents. Originality/value - Few studies of the Brazilian capital market have analyzed firms' capital structure under the market timing approach, and none have addressed the same aspects analyzed here. Therefore, this paper will be useful to different users of accounting information by indicating the factors that influence the capital structure of Brazilian firms, allowing a better analysis of whether these firms act to maximize the generation of shareholder wealth.