Factors affecting capital structure of listed joint-stock commercial banks on the Vietnamese stock market

Abstract

The study analyzes the factors affecting the capital structure of commercial banks listed on the Vietnamese stock market from 2014 to 2024. Using a panel data set collected from 15 leading banks, the study conducts regression analysis to test the impact of internal financial factors such as bank size, solvency, profitability, profit after tax, and bank age on the ratio of total liabilities to assets (TLEV), which is used as a proxy for capital structure. These banks are among those with the largest total assets in the banking system. After data collection and processing, the research sample consists of 165 observations. Using Stata software for quantitative analysis, a regression model was constructed to determine the relationship and the extent of impact of internal factors on the capital structure of listed joint-stock commercial banks. The empirical results show that liquidity and profitability have a negative and statistically significant impact on TLEV, implying that banks with high operational efficiency and sound liquidity tend to utilize less debt. This aligns with the view that businesses prefer internal funding sources due to lower costs and reduced control risks. The study also indicates that banks with larger size and a higher proportion of fixed assets tend to have higher levels of financial leverage.