Effects of firm-level variables on leverage over the whole sample period (2003-2012)
We begin our analysis by looking at the results based on the whole sample period (i.e.
from 2003 to 2012). This is important as it provides a fresh evidence of firm-level
determinants of capital structure. Three main estimation methods are employed in this
study. These are the OLS, the fixed effects and the random effects estimation models.
First, we estimate the OLS on the basis that there are no group or individual effects
among the sample firms. However, since the data used in the study is obtained from
different firms and over time, there could be the issue of cross-sectional effects on a set
of firms or on each firm. Accordingly, random and fixed effects models are employed to