Abstract
Based upon a dataset
spanning about 2,780 non-financial firms in France over the period 2007- 2019,
we explore the impact of the subprime crisis on their leverage ratio and
capital structure, comparing the experience of the largest listed and unlisted
non-financial corporates. Our results highlight that both listed and unlisted
corporates tend to reduce their overall indebtedness ratios during the subprime
crisis period and its aftermath, generalizing a significant corporate
deleveraging for listed and unlisted firms especially during the post-crisis
period. In addition, our findings show that listed
corporates become more dependable on short- and medium-term credits than the
long-term which may increase the exposure of these corporates to credit and
liquidity shocks. While our outcomes reveal a clear preference to long-term
debt for unlisted firms by expanding their debt maturities, relying on
long-term credits and reducing their dependence on short- and medium-term debt
which burden these corporates with short-term charges and payments that cannot
afford during the crisis and post-crisis periods.
