The Impact of Entrepreneurs’ Personal Wealth Allocations in Determining Their Firms’ Capital Structures

Author

Tianning Li, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Date of Award

12-2009

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Business Administration

Major Professor

Ramon P. Degennaro

Committee Members

George Philippatos, Deborah Murphy, Chanaka Edirisinghe

Abstract

We study the effect of entrepreneurs’ wealth allocations on their firm level capital structure by using a sample of small privately owned firms from the 2003 Surveys of Small Business Finance. We find that financial leverage decreases as entrepreneurs allocate more wealth on their firm investments. We also find that wealth allocation only affects capital structure in limited liability firms. Lastly, we show that the effect of wealth allocation on capital structure does not disappear after adjusting for collateral and personal guarantees.

Recommended Citation

Li, Tianning, "The Impact of Entrepreneurs’ Personal Wealth Allocations in Determining Their Firms’ Capital Structures. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2009.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/617