Capital Structure Choices in Technology Firms Empirical Results from Polish Listed Companies

摘要

The main aim of the paper is the identification of capital structure determinants, with aspecial emphasis on investments in the innovativeness of Polish New Technology-Based Firms(NTBFs). Poland is a unique country in that it is an emerging market that was also promoted in 2018to the status of a developed country. The study sample consisted of 31 companies listed in the WarsawStock Exchange that are classified as high-tech firms and covers the period 2014–2018. The followingfactors influencing the capital structure were analyzed: internal and external innovativeness andthe firm’s size, liquidity, intangibility, age, profitability, and growth opportunities. The results of theresearch provide empirical evidence that liquidity, age, and investments in innovativeness determinecapital structure, which provides an additional argument supporting the trade-off theory and themodified version of the pecking order theory. More specifically, the results suggest that companieswhose process of investment in innovativeness is based on the external acquisition of technology areabletoattractexternalfinancing, whiletheprocessbasedoninternallygeneratedinnovativeness(RDactivity) deters external capital. The results are interesting for policymakers in emerging markets.