Capital Structure and Profitability: Panel Data Evidence from the European Tourism Industry

Rezart Demiraj – American University of the Middle East, Kuwait

Suzan Dsouza – American University of the Middle East, Kuwait

Enida Demiraj –American College of the Middle East, Kuwait

Abstract: Finding the optimal debt-equity mix, where shareholders’ wel­fare and firm value are maximized is the goal of every business organiza­tion. The literature review revealed a broad spectrum of mixed and contra­dictory empirical findings on this topic, suggesting that the debate is far from over. This paper aims to assess the impact of capital structure on the profitability of the tourism industry in the European continent. This study is motivated by the importance that the tourism industry has for the economic development of European countries. The sample includes all European-list­ed firms in the tourism industry. Data is extracted from the Thomson Reu­ters (Refinitiv) database for a period of 10 years, i.e., 2010-2019. Panel data regression is used to determine the impact of the debt-to-assets ratio on the return on assets. The results reveal that the debt ratio has a significant neg­ative impact on ROA, but not on ROE.

6th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2022 – Selected Papers, Hybrid (University of Maribor, Slovenia), October 27, 2022

ITEMA Selected Papers published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2022 Selected Papers: ISBN 978-86-80194-64-6, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.S.P.2022

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

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