The Research of the Capital Structure of BRICS Countries

The following paper is devoted to the research of the capital structure of the BRICS countries. The study is the first one to connect such topics as “capital structure” and “innovations” together on the basis of the emerging markets. The research consists of 3 main parts. At the first stage the theoretical background considering different capital structure theories is provided. Moreover, some special features of innovative firms that could affect their capital structure are described. The second stage provides methodology and describes how the research sample was constructed. At the third stage descriptive statistics are examined, capital structure of tech and non-tech firms are compared and tech firms’ capital structure determinants are precisely studied. The results of the paper are the following: firstly, it is revealed that capital structure of tech and non-tech firms are different. That means the level of tech firms’ debt is lower as well as their borrowing patterns. Secondly, study concludes that both capital structure theories are relevant considering innovative firms. Thirdly, growth potential has negative influence on the size of leverage, while intangibility doesn’t have a certain connection with the amount of debt.