ABSTRACT
The motivation for this study hinges on the lingering debate on capital structure and the accompanying contributory evidence bothering on how companies should deploy various factors in determining an optimal capital structure at a particular point in time. The study assess firm characteristics and capital structure of listed Chemical and Paints companies in Nigeria for a period of Nine years, from 2004 to 2012.
The study employed secondary data from the annual reports of the companies and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) fact books covering the study period. Ordinary least square (OLS) was employed to estimate the model. The study reveals that liquidity, tangibility, profitability and age have significant impact on leverage at 1% level, while size and growth have no significant impact on capital structure.
The effect of tangibility on Capital Structure which suggests a negative correlation is contrary to both trade off theory and pecking order theory. The study therefore, recommends that the management of listed chemicals and paints firms in Nigeria should conduct a careful evaluation on capital mix using firm factors that affects capital structure before embarking on external financing decision to enable them to arrive at a favourable financing decision.
