Revenue concentration and capital structure
Authors: Meisami Alex , Park Sung-Jin , Meysami Mohammad 
Published: May 2024

Purpose

We conducted this study to examine the relationship between revenue concentration and a firm's financial leverage. We aimed to analyze whether revenue concentration influences a firm's capital structure decisions and whether this relationship is driven by customer-specific investments or the direct effect of revenue concentration itself. Additionally, we investigated the role of asset redeployability in mediating or moderating the relationship between revenue concentration and financial leverage.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates the relationship between revenue concentration and a firm's financial leverage. The results indicate a negative association between revenue concentration and financial leverage. This finding holds across various regression models and is statistically significant. Furthermore, the paper explores the potential role of asset redeployability in explaining the relationship between revenue concentration and financial leverage. The results indicate that even after controlling for asset redeployability, the negative relationship between revenue concentration and leverage remains significant, suggesting that revenue concentration affects capital structure decisions independently of the risks associated with relationship-specific investments. Robustness tests are conducted using a three-stage least squares approach to account for the simultaneity between revenue concentration, asset redeployability and capital structure.

Findings

Our findings demonstrate that revenue concentration is negatively associated with financial leverage, even after accounting for asset redeployability. This suggests that revenue concentration affects capital structure decisions independently of the risks associated with customer-specific investments. Furthermore, we performed robustness tests to address potential simultaneity issues between revenue concentration, asset redeployability and capital structure.

Research limitations/implications

The study relies on available data sources, which may have inherent limitations in terms of accuracy, completeness or consistency. The quality of the data used in the analysis could impact the robustness of the findings. Time Period: The study focuses on more recent years, which might limit the ability to compare the findings with studies conducted over different time periods. Historical trends or structural changes that could impact the relationship between revenue concentration and financial leverage might not be fully captured.

Practical implications

Firms with higher revenue concentration tend to have lower financial leverage. Recent years show a negative relationship between profitability and market leverage compared to earlier periods. Revenue concentration has a distinct effect on financial leverage, not fully explained by risks from relationship-specific investments or asset redeployability. Insights for firms in managing capital structure decisions, considering revenue concentration and its implications for leverage.

Originality/value

This research is one of the first papers that investigates the impact of revenue concentration on the capital structure choices of firms. By exploring the relationship between revenue concentration and financial leverage, the study contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on an underexplored area. Thus, this study adds originality to the field by addressing a research gap and contributing to the understanding of the relationship between revenue concentration and capital structure choices.