Title: Critique on Optimal Capital Structure: An Example of Capital Structure Decisions by Firms in UK
Abstract: The existence of an optimal capital structure for a firm has always remained a matter of serious discussion among financial analysts and academia. The conventional approach advocates the existence of optimal capital structure based on the relationship between the cost of capital and the capital structure of the firm. According to this approach the weighted average cost of capital falls initially with leverage as the increase in required return on equity does not completely offset the cheaper debt financing. However, later on when the increase in required return on equity is more than what it offset in the use of cheaper debt financing in the capital structure, the weighted average cost of capital starts to ascend which further increases once the cost of debt financing starts to go up as well. The conventional approach therefore holds that there is the possibility of the existence of “optimal capital structure” based on the relationship between cost of capital and the capital structure of the firm. However Modigliani & Miller in their significant and influential work on the effects of capital structure on the firm’s value, conclude that where there is a perfect financial market “capital structure is irrelevant” considering no-tax case, which can be literally understood as the firm’s value, being independent of its financial structure having no optimal capital structure. This paper aspires to evaluate the Modigliani and Miller corporate capital structure model and critically examine its validity in the context of its application in a real life situation, using the example of the UK. Another point of concern is what a firm takes into consideration when evaluating the financing options and why it prefers one alternative over the other, or else looks for optimal capital structure. Other things remaining equal, the rapid growth of borrowing increases the probability of the corporate sector facing difficulties in servicing its debt. Therefore it seems unlikely that corporate capital structure can be fully explained by any one theory, especially given that the theories are not mutually exclusive.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-04-17
Language: en
Type: article
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