PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the dynamics of capital structure in the context of Indian manufacturing companies in a partial‐adjustment framework during the period 1993‐1994 to 2007‐2008.Design/methodology/approachThis paper specifies a partial‐adjustment model and uses the generalized method of moments technique to determine the variables which affect the target capital structure and to find out the factors affecting the adjustment speed to target capital structure.FindingsFirm‐specific variables like size, tangibility, profitability and market‐to‐book ratio were found to be the most important variables which determine the target capital structure across the book and market leverage and the factors like size of the company, growth opportunity and the distance between the target and observed leverage determine the speed of adjustment to target leverage for the Indian manufacturing companies.Research limitations/implicationsThe behavioural variables like managers' confidence and attitude towards raising the external finance have not been incorporated in the model to determine the target capital structure due to the data constraint.Practical implicationsThis paper has implications for corporate managers in India, for example, to consider the various adjustment costs while altering the financing decisions of the company with other variables like flexibility of the manager, direct cost of debt and equity.Originality/valueThis paper is first of its kind to study both the determination of target capital structure and the speed of adjustment to target capital structure in the context of Indian companies.

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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of financial and technical education of chief executive officer (CEO) on investment–cash flow sensitivity (ICFS) of Indian manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses the dynamic panel data model and more specifically, the system-generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to investigate the effect of CEOs' education on ICFS of Indian manufacturing firms during the period 1998–1999 to 2016–2017.FindingsThe study shows that financial (technical) education of CEOs does (not) affect ICFS. The results explain that the role of the CEO's education in ICFS is highly significant during the crisis period. The robustness test depicts that the influence of financial education on ICFS is less (more) for group-affiliated and large-sized firms (stand-alone and small-sized firms). Further, the CEO's education is significantly associated with corporate investment decisions.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the unavailability of the CEO's compensation data for the selected sample, future research could explore the impact of CEO's education with respect to CEO's compensation on ICFS.Practical implicationsFirst, the authors find that financially educated CEOs affect ICFS; therefore, firms should take care of CEO's education during recruitment of CEOs. Second, lending agencies should also consider the educational background of the CEO before approval of funding to make it safe. Third, investors should keep in mind the educational background of the CEO for the growth of their investment as it may be easier for financially educated CEOs to borrow from the market at the time of requirement.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence through analyzing the impact of a CEO's education on ICFS in the context of India. This study is very unique in itself as it uses the sample of manufacturing sectors of India, which are growing very fast and attracting global investors to create a global hub of manufacturing in India. This study also considers different types of education such as financial and technical education of CEOs in the context of a developing economy like India. This study made its findings robust across company characteristics and periods based on the financial crisis.

This article analyzes the trends and the determinants of the dividend policy of Indian companies that were continuously paying dividend during the whole period study that is from 1994–1995 to 2012–2013. We have used the static panel data models to carry out this analysis. From the trend analysis we find that larger, more profitable, more mature and highly liquid firms have higher dividend payout ratio, whereas the firms with high investment opportunity, financial leverage and business risk have lower dividend payout ratio. The findings from the panel data analysis suggest that investment opportunity, financial leverage, size of the company, business risk, firm life cycle, profitability, tax and liquidity are the major determinants of the dividend policy for Indian companies. These results were robust across the period also. The findings are consistent with the pecking order, transaction cost, signalling and firm life cycle theories of the dividend policy.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of chief executive officer (CEO) personal characteristics on the performance of Indian commercial banks. Additionally, it also analyses the nonlinear relationship of CEO age and CEO tenure on the bank performance. Design/methodology/approach A balanced panel data approach has been used in this study. Particularly, the fixed effect estimation technique is used to examine the relationship between CEO characteristics and bank performance during the period 2009–2010 to 2016–2017. Findings The authors find that professional qualification of CEOs in finance stream enhances performance. Additionally, the impact of CEO duality is found to be positive and significant on performance. Male CEOs are beneficial for bank performance. Well experienced CEOs contribute to higher performance. The results are robust across the various proxies of bank performance, and sub-samples based on ownership, size of the bank and board size. Practical implications This study provides insights to policy regulators and policymakers who are entrusted with the appointment of the CEOs in the banks in the light of the ongoing regulatory reforms. Originality/value This study can be considered as one of the early studies, which examines the association between CEO characteristics and bank performance from an emerging economy perspective. It also extends the existing study by considering both public and private banks operating in India.