Capital Structure - Firm Specific Factors that Determine the Capital Structure on the Stockholm Stock Exchange

This thesis aims to test firm specific factors that determine the capital structure of companies on the Stockholm stock exchange. The results will be compared with the results of earlier studies from USA and Switzerland. Furthermore, we will conclude if these firm specific factors have changed over time. The theories explained and used in this thesis are the Modigliani Miller model, Trade-Off theory, Pecking order theory and the Market timing theory. We have also used other research articles to compare our results. This thesis is based on a quantitative approach, which through a panel data analysis includes hypothesis testing. Three out of our seven different firm specific factors indicates to be significant. They are with the most significant first, growth, profitability and size. Furthermore, the tests completed on our regression analysis indicate superior results. The conclusion of our thesis indicates that the firm specific factors that determine the capital structure on the Stockholm Stock Exchange are comparable with the earlier results from both USA and Switzerland. However, our results indicate that it has been a change in the effect of these factors over time