Abstract–An Empirical Investigation of the Corporate Debt Maturity Structure

Abstract

This paper develops a hypothesis regarding the factors which influence the average maturity of corporate debt, and the hypothesis is tested with a cross-sectional sample of large industrial firms. The sample consists of 159 companies from the Fortune 500 list of the largest industrial firms as of 1971. A linear regression model is developed with the firm's average debt maturity expressed as a function of the firm's asset maturity, size, variability of income, growth, and the proportion of debt in the firm's capital structure.