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classes, also show the same relationship, which is found to be statistically significant. Further examination reveals that the sur-.
Typology: Exercises
1 / 17
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This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the
National Bureau of Economic Research
Volume Title: The Pattern of Corporate Financial Structure: A Cross-Section
View of Manufacturing, Mining, Trade, and Construction, 1937
Volume Author/Editor: Walter A. Chudson
Volume Publisher: NBER
Volume ISBN: 0-870-14135-X
Volume URL: http://www.nber.org/books/chud45-
Publication Date: 1945
Chapter Title: Long-Term Debt and Net Worth
Chapter Author: Walter A. Chudson
Chapter URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c
Chapter pages in book: (p. 94 - 109)
THEFORCESAFFECTINGthecharacterandrelative proportionsof
long-termdebtandnetworth aresonumerousandsodifficult to
appraiseinquantitativetermsthattheinterpretation ofvariations
intheseaccountswithrespecttoindustry,size, andprofitabilityis
boundtobehazardous.Suchfactors asdepreciationpolicy,the
reinvestmentofearnings,corporatetaxation,and securitymarket
regulationsareamongthecomplexforces(other thancostcon.
siderationsandmarketconditions)which resultinthefinancial
ofstockdividends,the
revaluationofstock,thesaleofstock atapremiumordiscount,
andvariousothersurplusadjustments alsoshouldbementioned.
Nevertheless,interestremainsinthe
long-termdebt,according toindustry,size,andprofitability,iffor
nootherreasonthantodeterminewhethersuch factorstendto
eliminateanysystematic
structure.
Towhatextentdoestheproportionofowned assetsvaryamong
differentclassesofcorporations? Inansweringthisquestion, we
the
moreconventionalratioofnetworth
formermaybecompared
totalassets,which wehaveexaminedinpreviouschapters.
Certainbroadindustrial variationsintheratioof networthto
Manufacturingas
highestratio(74percent) andisfollowedcloselybymining (
percent);tradecorporations areinanintermediateposition(
percent);andconstruction (52percent)isthelowestof the
majorgroupsincludedin oursurvey.1Chart12revealsthatthe
1
Theutilities,railroads,andservice
Corporations__whicharenotincludedinour
studyhaveratiosof55,45,and percent,respectively.
94
PatternoJFflancialStructu,,
industrialrankingsofincomecorporationsfrequently
differfrom
thoseofthecorrespondingdeficit concerns,althoughthe rank
correlationbetweenthetwogroupsisabovethelevel ofstatistical
significance.Someevidenceofthestabilityofthe industrialdiffer.
encesisaffordedbytheconsiderablesimilaritybetweenthe
rank.
alsorevealssignificantdifferencesinthe
capitalamongthemajorindustrialdivisions.2The
evidenceon
thewholeindicatesthatindustrialvariationsin theproportionof
equitycapitalarenottheproductof mererandomforces.Classj.
ficationaccordingtoproducers'and consumers'goodsindustries
doesnotyieldsignificantdifferences,however.
Inbothincomeanddeficitcorporations ofthemajorindustrial
tototalassetstendstoincrease
consistentlywithsizeofcorporation(Chart
iscomplementarytotheinversevariation withsizeofthe current
liabilitiesasapercentageoftotal assets.Thevariationofthe net
worth/totalassetsratioreflectsprimarily thestrikingbehaviorof
thesurpluscomponentofnetworth,whichisdiscussed
onpage
variesinverselywithsize,while theratiooflong-termdebt does
notshowanyconsistentvariation.
Theratioofnetworth tototalassetsisdecidedlylower among
deficitthanamongincome
onnet
worthcomparedwithtotaldebt, groupedintoseveralprofitability
classes,alsoshowthe samerelationship,whichisfound tobe
statisticallysignificant.Further
examinationrevealsthatthesur-
pluscomponentofnetworthis thebasisofthisbehavior,just as
inthecaseofthevariation withcorporatesize.There isasignifi-
cantrankcorrelationbetweenthe profitabilityofminorindustrial
divisionsandthe
correlation
differencesinthe
ratio.However,differences
varioussize
2The testwasmadewithdataforthe ratioofnetworthtototaldebt,which would,ofcourse,givethe sameresultsasthenetworth/total assetsratio. 'Thistendencyisstronger, however,amongcorporations withassetsoflessthan $1,000,000thanamonglarger concerns.Infact,theSECdatafor theratioofnet worthtototaldebt,whichrelate primarilytocorporationswith assetsover$1,000,000, donotexhibitstatisticallysignificant
variationswithcorporatesize.
wcrta
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a he
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ordalcs
III'
cesiflt
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kps*$
ds
C $1_I',
Loag.7e?$SDebtandNetWorth
Chart13RATIOOFNwrWORTHTOTOTALAssETs oiINcoMEAND
DEFICITGROUPSOFMAJORINDUSTRIALDIVISIONS,1937,s'
ASSETSIZE
INCOMECORPORATIONS (^) DEFICITCORPORATIONS
MINING
ft FM
OR(STPRODUCTS PAPER PRINTING (^) CHEMICALS
IFRI'
PETROLEUM STONE.CLAY,ETC. METALS MOTORVEHICLES
45171110 14345175110
TO6ACCO
RUBSER
Fililifi
ililtill 'iiiiIIii
I2345$7$
ASSET5120CLASSISINTHOUSANDSorDOLLARS
CONSTRUCTION WHOLESALETRADE^ RETAILTRADE
I234507$ISO
97
'BasedonTableC-ISinDataBook(NationalBureauof
EconomicResearch).
Wholesaleandretailtradefiguresarefortheyear1933.
henet
90
havorof (^60)
90
amoog
aonriet
60
30
S
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d obe (^) -
'lull
ALLUFR. (^) r000 LIQUORS
90
0
TEXTILES CLOTHING LEATHER
90
IUND(R50 500000
2:50-00 7:5.000-10. k00-250 1I0,00030.
4:230-300 VI540*0-
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LotTermDebteisdNetWorth
forahighpercentageofcapitalstocktobeassociatedwithalow
percentageofsurplusandviceversa.Nevertheless,theratioof
medianvalueof193percent5(TableC28inDataBook).
industrialdivisionsinafairlyrandomfashion;thatis,thevaria-
tiondoesnotreflectspecificindustrialcharacteristics.Thecorrela-
tionbetweentherankingsofincomeanddeficitcorporationsisonly
mildlysignificant.Divisionofminorindustrialgroupsintopro-
ducers'andconsumers'goodsindustriesdoesnotyieldsignificant
results.Also,theindustrialvariationsoftheratioshownorela-
tionwhatevertotheaverageassetsizeortotheprofitabilityof
theminordivisions.
Theindustrialvariationsintheratioofsurplustototalassets
are,forthemostpart,nomoresystematicthanthoseofcapital
stock.Thecorrelationbetweentherankingsofincomeanddeficit
corporationsisnotsignificant;andclassificationaccordingtopro-
ducers'andconsumers'goodsalsoyieldsnosignificantresults.
However,thesurpluscomponentreflectssignificantdifferences
inassetsizeandprofitabilityamongtheminorindustrialdivisions.
surplus.Similarly,themoreprofitabletheindustrialdivision,the
variationisattributableindependentlytosizeandhowmuchto
profitabilityisnotshownbythesimplecorrelationcoefficients
usedinthisstudy.Thefactthatthereislittlecorrelationbetween
averageassetsizeandindustrialprofitability,however,
indicates
thatbothfactorsexertindependentinfluenceonthesurplus/total
numerousindustriesofrelativelyhighprofitabilityhaverelatively
lowsurpluscomponents.Thisisprobablymoretrueofanysingle
yearthanofaperiodofyears,sincesooneror
latertheeffectof
profitabilityonsurplusshouldbefelt.
Miningandquarrying"notelsewhereclassified"andallthetradegroupswith
extremelyhighratioshavebeenexcludedfromthisrange.
Unfortunately,acomparisonof1937resultswithearlieryea-aiinotpossible.
In1937,theitem"otherliabilities"wasreclassified,whichresulte'intheshiftingof
surplusreservesfrom"otherliabilities"into"surplus."SeeStaliticsofIncomefor
193?,Part2,p.23.
100 PatternofFinanciaj Structure
VariationswithCorporateSize
Bothcapitalstockandsurplusshowsystematic variationswithsize
ofcorporationinamajorityofindustrialdivisions.
capitalstocktototalassetsdeclinesassizeofcorporationincreases.
amongtheincomecorporations,however,mostofthe
declineis
assets
assetsratiorises
sharplyandconsistently amongdeficitconcernsandamongincome
corporationswithassetsoflessthan$1,000, (TableC-14in
Thevariationofthesurplus componentdominatestherelation
shipbetweennetworthand corporatesize.Themovementofthe
capitalstock/totalassetsratio appearstobelargelyinthe nature
ofacompensatory orpassiveadjustmenttothevariationof sur-
plus.Thereis notheoreticalbasisforexpectingcapitalstock tobe
asmallercomponentoftotalliabilities amongthelargecorpora-
tions;ifanything,the contrarymightbeexpected,becauseof the
tofloatSecuritiesandtheir
tendencytoavoidshort-termdebt. Perhapsoneexplanationis that
smallcorporationscapitalize theirsurplusmorerapidly.
sharpincreasesinthesurplus com-
ponentamongcorporationswithtotaiassetsoflessthan$1,000,.
caseofthedeficitcorporations,the answerappears
clearlytobethesharprise intherateofprofit(decline intherate
enormousdeficitsoftheunprofitable corporations
withassetsunder$250, dominatetheupward sweepofthe
surplus/totalassetsratioand
networthto
totalassets.Thisis anoutstandingcaseoftheinteraction between
corporatesizeandprofitability.Thebasis
oftheincreaseinthe
ratioofsurplus tototalassetsamongincome
corporationswith
assetsoflessthan$1,000, islessclear,sincethe rateofprofit
inmostindustrial groupsactuallydeclinesslightly assizeofcor-
porationincreases.The
comparativelysmallsurplusamongthe
smallcorporationsoftheincome
groupmayreflectthegreaterin-
stabilityofearnings andpossibly arelativelyshorterlife, onthe
average,ofsmallenterprises.
Inconnectionwith variationsinthesurplus component,therela-
tionbetween corporatesizeandthereinvestment ofearningsis
102
incomeconcerns.Takingall manufacturingcorporations
capitalstockamongdeficit compared
withincomecorporations
percent,respec..
tively)reflectstheweight ofthesmallandmedium-sized corpora
tions.Amongtheminorindustrial divisionsthedifferencesin the
proportionofcapitalstockbetween incomeanddeficit corpora.
tionsarealsorelated tothefactthatthedeficitcorporations are
correspondingincomecorporations.For those
deficitcorporationswhose
assetsis
higherthanthatforincome corporations,totalassets apparently
haveshrunkwhilethe
capitalstock
hasnotbeenreduced proportionately,ifatall.
IndustrialVariations
In1937thelong-term debtofnonfinancial corporationswastwice
thesizeofshort-term debtintheformof notesandaccounts pay.
ableand percentoftheoutstandingcapital stock.Thefigure
wasstronglyaffectedbythe greatvolumeoflong-termdebtof the
railroadsandpublicutilities; inmanufacturingand trade,thelong-
termdebtwasmuchless important.Formanufacturing corpora-
tionsitamounted to67percentofnotesand accountspayableand
19percentofcapital
respectivepercentage
figureswere24and16.
Amongtheminor
oflong-term
debttototalassets rangesfrom1to36percent,with thecentral
Therankingsofincome anddeficit
persistent
industrialdifferences.The industrialrankingsfor and
alsoareverysimilar, whichwouldbe expectedsincetheshort-
runchangesinthevolumeof long-termdebt areboundtoberela-
tivelysmall.Thelong-term
ontheaverage
amongindustriesmanufacturing
among
consumers'goodsindustries,but
groupsissogreatthatthedifference isnotstatistically significant.
Differencesinthe averageassetsizeofminorindustrial groups
donotaffecttherelative volumeoflong-term debt.Amongthese
groupstherelationshipbetween
profitabilityandthe percentage
Lopg.Ter
Debt.isdNetWorth
103
oflong-termdebtisslightlyinverse,butitisbarelyabovethelevel
ofstatisticalsignificance.
Therelationshipbetweentheratiooffixedcapitalassetstototal
assetsandtheratio
oflong-termdebttototalassetsismoderately
directamongtheminor
industrialdivisions.Onthebasisofthe
SECdataindustrialdifferencesin
theratiooflong-termdebtto
fixedassetsarestatisticallysignificant,afactwhichyieldsfurther
evidenceoftheexistenceofa
relationshipbetweenlong-termdebt
andfixedcapitalassets.°
Dolong-termdebtandshort-term
eachotheramongthevarious
minorindustrialdivisions?Ananal-
short-termdebttototalassets
indicatesnostatisticallysignificant
relationship,inverseordirect.Thesame
absenceofasubstitute
relationship,onanindustrialbasis,
isfoundtocharacterizelong-
termdebtandcapitalstock.
Variationswith
CorporateSize
long-
termdebtto
totalassetsdiffersbetweenincome
anddeficitcor-
sizeisnotasignificant
factor.
Amongthedeficitcorporationsasa
whole,however,theratio
risesappreciablyascorporate
sizeincreases(TableC-
inData
conform
tothegeneralpattern.
Moreover,theincreasesarenot
important
amongcorporations
withtotalassetsofless
than$1,000,000,so
thatthetendencymight
betterbedescribedasa
differenceinthe
leveloflong-termdebtbetween
corporationswithassetsofless
than$1,000,000andthose
withassetsinexcessof$1,000,000.
the
ratioofnotesandaccounts
payabletolong-termdebt)
declines
Thisdoes
notindicate,however,
thatlong-termdebt
substitutesforshort-
termdebt,since,asnotedabove,long-term
debtdoesnotincrease
withcorporatesize,exceptamong
thedeficitcorporations
and
thenonlyinanirregular
fashion.Long-termdebtasa
percentage
significantrelationshiptocorporate
size
untilcorporationswith
totalassetsofmore
than$1,000,000are
°SeeSlatislicsofAmericanListed
Corporations,'Fable95,p.320.
Lo,,g.TeraDebtandNetWorth
reached,whentheratiobeginstorise
appreciably.Theratioof
long-termdebttofixed
capitalassetsvariesirregularlywithsize,
butitslevelamongcorporationswithassetsover$1,000,000is
definitelyhigherthanamongsmallerconcerns.
datafortheratiooflong-term
debttofixedcapitalassetsreveals
no
primarilytolargemanufacturingcorporationswithassetsover
VariationswithProfitability
Theratiooflong-termdebtto
totalassetsisconsiderablyhigher
amongdeficit
thanamongincomecorporationsin corresponding
assetclassesandminor
industrialgroups.Thedifferencestendto
increasewithsizeofcorporation
becauseofthesharpriseofdebt
amongthedeficitconcerns.
Sincedeficitcorporationsalsohave
long-termdebtcannotbe
toreflectashrinkage
intheassetsofdeficitcorporations
without
acorresponding
shrinkageinthelong-termdebt.In
otherwords,
itreflectsthedifferencebetween
thesurpluscomponentsofin-
comeanddeficit
corporations.
Asindicatedabove,nocorrelation
existsbetweenprofitability
andtheleveloflong-term
debtamongminorindustrialgroups.
majorindustrialgroups,also,no
relationshipisevidentbetweenthe
variationsoflong-termdebt
andprofitability.Inaddition,
significant
variationwithprofitabilityinthe
ratiooflong-termdebtto
fixed
assets.
TheFrequencyofLong-Term
Debt
inherentneedforanylong-term
in-
debtedness,itisinterestingto
knowwhattypesofcorporations
relymoreorlessfrequentlyupon
thissourceoffunds.Data
from
Statisticsof1lmericanListed
Corporationsindicatethatamong
corporationswithassetsofmore
than$1,000,000the
proportion
ofconcernshavingfunded
debtincreaseswithcorporate
sizeina
shouldbedrawn,
however,betweenfunded
debtand"otherlong-term
debt,"which
1%
Patter,iolFinancialStructure
TableIl-PERCENTAGE OFLISTEDMANUFACTURINGC0RPOK-
ATIONSHAVINGLONG-TFRMDEBT, ANDTHERATIOOF
FUNDEDDEBTTOOIlIERLONG-TERM DEBT,1937,BYASSET
SIZES
aBasedondata,asofDecember 31,1937,fromStasistic.rofAmericanListed Corporasians, Part1,Tab!e64, pp.226-45. b Inclusiveofthelowerlimitandexclusive oftheupper.
mortgagesforthemostpart.1°The proportion
varietydeclinesslightly untilcorporationswith
rises
sharply.Thisrisemaybeduetotheimportanceamongthelargest
landpurchaseobligations, and
corporations
fundeddebtforms
assetsthanother
excessof
$1,000,000fundeddebtisthehigherofthetwoitems.
debt
variesconsiderably
$1,000,000.Utilitieshavethe highestproportion,and extractjve
industriesthelowest,ofthe mainindustry groups.Withinmanu-
facturingthefrequency
percentiniron
andsteeltoa'owof percentintextiles.Thefrequencyof other
10
"Otherlong-termdebt"isdefined toincludemortgageloansand noteswitha maturityofoneyear ormore.Mortgagebonds,collateral bonds,debentures,equip- menttru,tobligations,andlong-term notesofthebondcategory areincludedin fundeddebt.Fundeddebt comingduewithin oneyearis excludedfromthis category.Seetheexplanatory notes,Statistic:ofAmericanListed p.181. Corporation,,
Sizeb
(inmiflions)
Proportion
ofCorporation,
HavingFunded
Debt
Proportion
ofCorporations
HavingOther
Long-TermDebt
Proportion
ofCorporations
havingFunded
PlusOther
Long-TermDebt
RatioofFunded
DebttoOther
Long-TermDebt
Under$1 (^) 6. 30.2 (^) 33.
1-3 (^) 8. 27.8 (^) 33.
3-5 (^) 21. 25.8 (^) 38.
5-10 (^) 23. 33.1 (^) 44.
10-20 (^) 26.
42.6 (^) 311.
20-50 (^) 30. 24.2 (^) 44.
50- 37.5 (^) 31. 56.3 (^) 335. 100-
200-
500andover
559
1,776.
Pattern0/'hIsanCI(j
Strucgjg,
porationshadbondsormortgages.1'This percentagefigure may
corporations
withassetsofmorethan$1,000, (Table12).Verylikely the
long..term
debtbutalsoalowerfrequencyofthis typeofliability.
Somefurtherlightisthrown ontherelativefrequencyof dif.
ferenttypesoflong-term liabilitieabycertainSECdata,
which
The most
Table13TYPES OFCAPITALSTRUCTURE,ALLLISTEDCOR-
PORATIONS,1937'
Basedondata, asofDecember31,1937,fromStatictics ofAmericanLijied Part1,Table51, Corporatjo,,j, p.188,andTable70,p.294.
frequenttypeconsists ofcommonstockonly, foundpredominantly
amongcorporationsofthe smallestaveragesize (i.e.,thosewith
assetsunder$1,000,000),
whichownonly percentoftheassets
ofalllisted corporations.
structureis
averageassetsizeof corporations,thecomplexity
growingas
averagesizeincreases.The tablealsoindicatesthat
theabsenceof
associatedwith arelativelyhigh levelofprofitability.
Thisrelationship maypossiblyreflect par- ticularindustrial orsizedifferences
aswellasprofitability,but
theavailabledata donotpermit
adeterminationofthis point.
Corporationswithfunded debthave
arelativelyhighratioof fixedcapital assetstototalassets,
reflectingnodoubt thepresence
CharlesL.Merwjn, Jr.,Financial Characterli1jC Corporation,,Tempoj-a,y ofAmericanManufacjurigq NationalEconomic ington,1941) CommitgceMonographNo.15(Wash- pp.110-12.Fiycindustric.
weresampled:baking, furniture,stoneand men'sclothing clay,andmachine tools.
CapitalStructure Frcgueni:y
Percent
of
Total
Average
Ascas
(millions)
Arerageof
NaProfit
perDollar
viNesWorth
Ratioof
FixedAsseg,
toTotal
Assets
Commonstockonly
Commonandpreferred
801 (^46) $ $9. 477
stock;nofundeddebt (^510) 29 21
Commonstockand
fundeddebt
Commonstock,preferred
(^144 ) 55
stock,fundeddebt (^286 ) (^129) 6.
y
8
Long-TermDebtandNetWorth 109
thedifferencebetweentheratiooffixedcapitalassetsforcorpora-
bothcommonandpreferredstockarenotclear.
Oneofthemostpervasivefeaturesofbalance-sheetstructureis
themarginbywhichinvestedcapital(networthpluslong-term
debt)exceedsfixedcapitalassets.Onlyafewclassesofdeficit
sourcesoffundsareemployedforthefinancingofcurrentassets
isroughlyindicatedbythedegreetowhichcurrentassetsexceed
currentliabilities,asmeasuredbythecurrentratio.12Acomple-
mentarymeasureshowingthemarginbetweenfixedcapitalassets
andinvestedcapitalisprovidedbyaratiobetweenthetwoitems.
Amongtheminorindustrialgroups,theratioofinvestedcapital
tofixedcapitalassetsvariesfrom1to11times,withamedian
valueof2;thecentralhalfofthedistributionliesbetween2and
3(TableC-28'inDataBook).Aconsiderabledegreeofstability
intheseindustrialdifferencesisindicatedbyahighrankcorrela-
tionbetweenincomeanddeficitcorporations.Nostrongconnection
betweenindustrialtypesandthesizeoftheratioisdiscernible,
however,andatestrevealsnosignificantdifferencebetweenthe
meanratiooftheproducers'andconsumers'goodsindustries.
DataBook.)Thetendencyforlessofthelong-termfundstobe
usedtofinancelong-termfixedcapitalrequirementsascorporate
sizeincreasesindicatesthataprogressivelylargeproportionofthe
fundsgoestofinanceintercorporateinvestmentsandcurrentassets.
Theratioisconsistentlyhigheramongincomecorporationsthan
amongdeficitcorporations,indicating,likethecurrentratio,that
incomecorporationsemployalargerproportionoftheirlong-term
beattributabletothedecreaseinthesurpluscomponentofdeficit
corporationswithoutaproportionatedecreaseinthevaluationof
fixedcapitalassets.
Thisstatementisnotmeanttoimplyadirectconnectionbetweenagiven
sourceandagivenuseoffunds,butmerelytoindicate
thatapartofthecurrent
assetsmust,inthefinalanalysis,befinancedbynon-currentfunds.