Firm Financing and Growth in the Arab Region

Cortina Lorente, Juan Jose ; Ismail, Soha ; Schmukler, Sergio L.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: capital;    corporate bonds;    debt;    debt markets;    equity;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7756
RP-ID  :  WPS7756

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper documents how firms in Arabcountries issue equity, corporate bonds, and syndicatedloans in domestic and international markets to obtainfinancing and grow. Using a new data set on issuanceactivity and firm performance, the paper finds that capitalraising through these markets has grown rapidly since theearly 1990s and involved an increasing number of issuingfirms. Whereas the amounts raised (relative to grossdomestic product) in equity and loan markets stand well withrespect to international standards, bond issuance activitylags behind. Yet, bond financing has gained importance overtime. Equity issuances primarily take place domestically,while bonds and loans are mostly issued internationally,display long maturities, and entail low levels of creditrisk. Issuing firms are larger, grow faster, and are moreleveraged than non-issuers. While issuers tend to be largerex ante than non-issuers, the size gap between them seems towiden over time.