Long-Term Debt and Net Worth, Exercises of Construction

classes, also show the same relationship, which is found to be statistically significant. Further examination reveals that the sur-.

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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/chud45-1
Publication Date: 1945
Chapter Title: Long-Term Debt and Net Worth
Chapter Author: Walter A. Chudson
Chapter URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c9215
Chapter pages in book: (p. 94 - 109)
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Download Long-Term Debt and Net Worth and more Exercises Construction in PDF only on Docsity!

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)

LONG-TERMDEBTANDNETWORTH

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

planofanenterprise.Thedeclaration

ofstockdividends,the

revaluationofstock,thesaleofstock atapremiumordiscount,

andvariousothersurplusadjustments alsoshouldbementioned.

Nevertheless,interestremainsinthe

analysisofnetworthand

long-termdebt,according toindustry,size,andprofitability,iffor

nootherreasonthantodeterminewhethersuch factorstendto

eliminateanysystematic

patternintheseelementsoffinancial

structure.

DEBTANDEQUITYCAPITAL

Towhatextentdoestheproportionofowned assetsvaryamong

differentclassesofcorporations? Inansweringthisquestion, we

shallusetheratioof

networthtototalassets,ratherthan

the

moreconventionalratioofnetworth

tototaldebt,becausethe

formermaybecompared

directlywithratiosofother itemsto

totalassets,which wehaveexaminedinpreviouschapters.

Certainbroadindustrial variationsintheratioof networthto

totalassetsareofinterest.

Manufacturingas

awholehasthe

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.

ingsoftheratioin1937andin1931.AtestoftheSECdata

alsorevealssignificantdifferencesinthe

proportionofequity

capitalamongthemajorindustrialdivisions.2The

evidenceon

thewholeindicatesthatindustrialvariationsin theproportionof

equitycapitalarenottheproductof mererandomforces.Classj.

ficationaccordingtoproducers'and consumers'goodsindustries

doesnotyieldsignificantdifferences,however.

Inbothincomeanddeficitcorporations ofthemajorindustrial

divisionstheratioofnetworth

tototalassetstendstoincrease

consistentlywithsizeofcorporation(Chart

13).Thisbehavior

iscomplementarytotheinversevariation withsizeofthe current

liabilitiesasapercentageoftotal assets.Thevariationofthe net

worth/totalassetsratioreflectsprimarily thestrikingbehaviorof

thesurpluscomponentofnetworth,whichisdiscussed

onpage

99,below.Theratioofcapital

stocktototalassetsactually

variesinverselywithsize,while theratiooflong-termdebt does

notshowanyconsistentvariation.

Theratioofnetworth tototalassetsisdecidedlylower among

deficitthanamongincome

corporations.TheSECdata

onnet

worthcomparedwithtotaldebt, groupedintoseveralprofitability

classes,alsoshowthe samerelationship,whichisfound tobe

statisticallysignificant.Further

examinationrevealsthatthesur-

pluscomponentofnetworthis thebasisofthisbehavior,just as

inthecaseofthevariation withcorporatesize.There isasignifi-

cantrankcorrelationbetweenthe profitabilityofminorindustrial

divisionsandthe

networth/totalassetsratio;this

correlation

indicatesthattheeffectof

profitabilityuponnetworthis sufli-

cienttobe

afactorindeterminingindustrial

differencesinthe

ratio.However,differences

intheprofitabilityof

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

o ustas

sas

ordalcs

III'

cesiflt

o* size

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

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RUBSER

Fililifi

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ASSET5120CLASSISINTHOUSANDSorDOLLARS

CONSTRUCTION WHOLESALETRADE^ RETAILTRADE

I234507$ISO

97

'BasedonTableC-ISinDataBook(NationalBureauof

EconomicResearch).

Wholesaleandretailtradefiguresarefortheyear1933.

henet

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Sce°

LotTermDebteisdNetWorth

forahighpercentageofcapitalstocktobeassociatedwithalow

percentageofsurplusandviceversa.Nevertheless,theratioof

capitalstocktosurplusvariesfrom62to 567 percent,witha

medianvalueof193percent5(TableC28inDataBook).

Thecapitalstock/totalassetsratiovariesamongtheminor

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.

Thelargertheaverageassetsize,thehighertheproportionof

surplus.Similarly,themoreprofitabletheindustrialdivision,the

greatertheratioofsurplustototalassets.Howmuchofthe

variationisattributableindependentlytosizeandhowmuchto

profitabilityisnotshownbythesimplecorrelationcoefficients

usedinthisstudy.Thefactthatthereislittlecorrelationbetween

averageassetsizeandindustrialprofitability,however,

indicates

thatbothfactorsexertindependentinfluenceonthesurplus/total

assetsratio.Therankcorrelationbetweenprofitabilityandthe

ratioofsurplustototalassetsisonlymoderatelystrong,and

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.

Theratioof

capitalstocktototalassetsdeclinesassizeofcorporationincreases.

amongtheincomecorporations,however,mostofthe

declineis

confinedtocorporationsoflessthan

$1,000,000total

assets

(TableC-13inDataBook).Thesurplus/total

assetsratiorises

sharplyandconsistently amongdeficitconcernsandamongincome

corporationswithassetsoflessthan$1,000, (TableC-14in

DataBook).

Thevariationofthesurplus componentdominatestherelation

shipbetweennetworthand corporatesize.Themovementofthe

capitalstock/totalassetsratio appearstobelargelyinthe nature

ofacompensatory orpassiveadjustmenttothevariationof sur-

plus.Thereis notheoreticalbasisforexpectingcapitalstock tobe

asmallercomponentoftotalliabilities amongthelargecorpora-

tions;ifanything,the contrarymightbeexpected,becauseof the

greatereaseforlargecorporations

tofloatSecuritiesandtheir

tendencytoavoidshort-termdebt. Perhapsoneexplanationis that

smallcorporationscapitalize theirsurplusmorerapidly.

Whatisthebasisforthe

sharpincreasesinthesurplus com-

ponentamongcorporationswithtotaiassetsoflessthan$1,000,.

000?Inthe

caseofthedeficitcorporations,the answerappears

clearlytobethesharprise intherateofprofit(decline intherate

ofloss).The

enormousdeficitsoftheunprofitable corporations

withassetsunder$250, dominatetheupward sweepofthe

surplus/totalassetsratioand

inturnoftheratioof

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

PatternofFinancialStrct,.

incomeconcerns.Takingall manufacturingcorporations

asa

whole,thehigherratioof

capitalstockamongdeficit compared

withincomecorporations

(52percentand

percent,respec..

tively)reflectstheweight ofthesmallandmedium-sized corpora

tions.Amongtheminorindustrial divisionsthedifferencesin the

proportionofcapitalstockbetween incomeanddeficit corpora.

tionsarealsorelated tothefactthatthedeficitcorporations are

smallerthanthe

correspondingincomecorporations.For those

deficitcorporationswhose

ratioofcapitalstocktototal

assetsis

higherthanthatforincome corporations,totalassets apparently

haveshrunkwhilethe

bookvalueofoutstanding

capitalstock

hasnotbeenreduced proportionately,ifatall.

LONG-TERMDEBT

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

stock;intrade,the

respectivepercentage

figureswere24and16.

Amongtheminor

industrialdivisionstheratio

oflong-term

debttototalassets rangesfrom1to36percent,with thecentral

halfofthedistribution

lyingbetween5and

10percent.(See

TableC-28inDataBook.)

Therankingsofincome anddeficit

corporationsareverysimilar_an

indicationoffairly

persistent

industrialdifferences.The industrialrankingsfor and

alsoareverysimilar, whichwouldbe expectedsincetheshort-

runchangesinthevolumeof long-termdebt areboundtoberela-

tivelysmall.Thelong-term

debtratioishigher

ontheaverage

amongindustriesmanufacturing

producers'goodsthan

among

consumers'goodsindustries,but

thevariationwithin

thetwo

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

debtactassubstitutesfor

eachotheramongthevarious

minorindustrialdivisions?Ananal-

ysisoftherankcorrelations

oftheratiosoflong-termand

short-termdebttototalassets

indicatesnostatisticallysignificant

relationship,inverseordirect.Thesame

absenceofasubstitute

relationship,onanindustrialbasis,

isfoundtocharacterizelong-

termdebtandcapitalstock.

Variationswith

CorporateSize

Therelationshipofcorporate

sizeandtheproportionof

long-

termdebtto

totalassetsdiffersbetweenincome

anddeficitcor-

porations.Intheformergroup

sizeisnotasignificant

factor.

Amongthedeficitcorporationsasa

whole,however,theratio

risesappreciablyascorporate

sizeincreases(TableC-

inData

Book),althoughanumberof

majorindustriesdonot

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.

Theratioofnotespayableto

long-termdebt(andalso

the

ratioofnotesandaccounts

payabletolong-termdebt)

declines

sharplyassizeofcorporation

increases(Table10).

Thisdoes

notindicate,however,

thatlong-termdebt

substitutesforshort-

termdebt,since,asnotedabove,long-term

debtdoesnotincrease

withcorporatesize,exceptamong

thedeficitcorporations

and

thenonlyinanirregular

fashion.Long-termdebtasa

percentage

ofnetworthshowsno

significantrelationshiptocorporate

size

untilcorporationswith

totalassetsofmore

than$1,000,000are

°SeeSlatislicsofAmericanListed

Corporations,'Fable95,p.320.

I

Lo,,g.TeraDebtandNetWorth

reached,whentheratiobeginstorise

appreciably.Theratioof

long-termdebttofixed

capitalassetsvariesirregularlywithsize,

butitslevelamongcorporationswithassetsover$1,000,000is

definitelyhigherthanamongsmallerconcerns.

AtestofSEC

datafortheratiooflong-term

debttofixedcapitalassetsreveals

no

significantvariationwithsize,however;these

datarelate

primarilytolargemanufacturingcorporationswithassetsover

VariationswithProfitability

Theratiooflong-termdebtto

totalassetsisconsiderablyhigher

amongdeficit

thanamongincomecorporationsin corresponding

assetclassesandminor

industrialgroups.Thedifferencestendto

increasewithsizeofcorporation

becauseofthesharpriseofdebt

amongthedeficitconcerns.

Sincedeficitcorporationsalsohave

alarger

proportionofcurrentliabilities,the

higherratiofor

long-termdebtcannotbe

interpretedasasubstitutionoflong-

termforshort-term

obligations.Forthemostpartitappears

toreflectashrinkage

intheassetsofdeficitcorporations

without

acorresponding

shrinkageinthelong-termdebt.In

otherwords,

itreflectsthedifferencebetween

thesurpluscomponentsofin-

comeanddeficit

corporations.

Asindicatedabove,nocorrelation

existsbetweenprofitability

andtheleveloflong-term

debtamongminorindustrialgroups.

Amongthesizeclassesofthe

majorindustrialgroups,also,no

relationshipisevidentbetweenthe

variationsoflong-termdebt

andprofitability.Inaddition,

theSECdatashowno

significant

variationwithprofitabilityinthe

ratiooflong-termdebtto

fixed

assets.

TheFrequencyofLong-Term

Debt

Sinceacorporationhasno

inherentneedforanylong-term

in-

debtedness,itisinterestingto

knowwhattypesofcorporations

relymoreorlessfrequentlyupon

thissourceoffunds.Data

from

Statisticsof1lmericanListed

Corporationsindicatethatamong

corporationswithassetsofmore

than$1,000,000the

proportion

ofconcernshavingfunded

debtincreaseswithcorporate

sizeina

consistentfashion(Table11).Adistinction

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.

isintheformof

mortgagesforthemostpart.1°The proportion

ofcorporationshaving

otherlong-termdebtof anon-funded

varietydeclinesslightly untilcorporationswith

assetsofover

$200,000,000arereached,after

whichtheproportion

rises

sharply.Thisrisemaybeduetotheimportanceamongthelargest

corporationsoftermloans,oil

landpurchaseobligations, and

otherpurchaseobligations.

Amongthesmallest

corporations

fundeddebtforms

alowerproportionoftotal

assetsthanother

long-termdebt;butfor

corporationswithassetsin

excessof

$1,000,000fundeddebtisthehigherofthetwoitems.

Table12revealsthatthe

relativefrequencyoffunded

debt

variesconsiderably

amongindustrieswithassetsof

morethan

$1,000,000.Utilitieshavethe highestproportion,and extractjve

industriesthelowest,ofthe mainindustry groups.Withinmanu-

facturingthefrequency

varicsfromahighof

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

becontrastedwith41percentformanufacturing

corporations

withassetsofmorethan$1,000, (Table12).Verylikely the

smallconcernshave notonlyalowerproportionof

long..term

debtbutalsoalowerfrequencyofthis typeofliability.

Somefurtherlightisthrown ontherelativefrequencyof dif.

ferenttypesoflong-term liabilitieabycertainSECdata,

which

definefourtypesof"capital

structure"(Table13).

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.

Table13shows

thatthecomplexity

ofcapital

structureis

relatedtothe

averageassetsizeof corporations,thecomplexity

growingas

averagesizeincreases.The tablealsoindicatesthat

theabsenceof

fundeddebtis

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

ofanumberofutilitycorporationsinthesample.Reasonsfor

thedifferencebetweentheratiooffixedcapitalassetsforcorpora-

tionswithcommonstockoniyandthatforcorporationswith

bothcommonandpreferredstockarenotclear.

INVESTEDCAPITALANDCAPITALASSETS

Oneofthemostpervasivefeaturesofbalance-sheetstructureis

themarginbywhichinvestedcapital(networthpluslong-term

debt)exceedsfixedcapitalassets.Onlyafewclassesofdeficit

corporationsdonotshowthismargin.Thatsomenon-current

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.

Theratiorisesmoderately,butnotregularly,withcorporate

sizeparticularlyamongdeficitconcerns.(SeeTableC-26in

DataBook.)Thetendencyforlessofthelong-termfundstobe

usedtofinancelong-termfixedcapitalrequirementsascorporate

sizeincreasesindicatesthataprogressivelylargeproportionofthe

fundsgoestofinanceintercorporateinvestmentsandcurrentassets.

Theratioisconsistentlyhigheramongincomecorporationsthan

amongdeficitcorporations,indicating,likethecurrentratio,that

incomecorporationsemployalargerproportionoftheirlong-term

liabilitiesforcurrentpurposes.Partofthedifferencemayalso

beattributabletothedecreaseinthesurpluscomponentofdeficit

corporationswithoutaproportionatedecreaseinthevaluationof

fixedcapitalassets.

Thisstatementisnotmeanttoimplyadirectconnectionbetweenagiven

sourceandagivenuseoffunds,butmerelytoindicate

thatapartofthecurrent

assetsmust,inthefinalanalysis,befinancedbynon-currentfunds.