Impact of Board Characteristics on Debt Financing Costs

Abstract

Debt financing, as an important method of corporate financing, affects the efficiency and effectiveness of corporate financing, and the board of directors, as an important corporate governance institution, will inevitably affect financing costs through financing decisions. This article uses 2011-2017 Chinese A-share listed companies as a sample to study the impact of board characteristics on debt financing costs. The study found that board size and debt financing costs are not related; The separation of the chairman and general manager will significantly reduce the level of debt financing: the number of board meetings is positively related to debt financing costs; The proportion of the board of directors' shares and the proportion of female directors is negatively related to the cost of debt financing. This study enriches the research on the characteristics of the board of directors and the cost of corporate debt financing.