The role of earnings volatility (as a determinant of leverage) was also affected by
the crisis. The results (as indicated in Table V) show that volatility is positively related
to leverage prior to the financial crisis (i.e. g ¼ 0.2687; p ¼ 0.001). This positive
relationship could be attributed to the fact that firms below their debt servicing
capacity, coupled with a low risk of earnings volatility may overlook volatility in
earnings and increase their debt ratios by taking on more debt to invest in other
business operations that would eventually lead to stability in earnings. However, there
is no doubt that with a high risk of default during the crisis period, lenders were careful
in granting financial assistance to firms with earnings volatility. Thus, Table V shows
that earnings volatility became a major determinant of capital structure during the
crisis. This is an indication that financial lenders were careful in lending to firms with
earnings volatility after the crisis due to the risk of default.