The Study of Relationship between Financial Leverage and Information Asymmetry in Listed Firms of Tehran Stock Exchange

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Finance, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

2 Professor of Finance, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

3 Master of Business Administration, University of Islamic Azad Babol, Iran.

Abstract

Theoretically, it is expected that information asymmetry has an important effect on companies' capital structure. In this research, the casual relationship between financial leverage and information asymmetry in listed firms of Tehran Stock Exchange during 1383-1393 was investigated using panel data. To do so, 108 listed firms of Tehran Stock Exchange were selected as the sample of the study and bid-ask spread was used as the scale for measuring the information asymmetry. In addition, F and Husman tests were applied to select the best model from panel, fixed effects and stochastic data. The findings showed a significant relationship between financial leverage and information asymmetry in Tehran Stock Exchange. In other words, financial leverage has a reverse effect on information asymmetry and on the other hand, information asymmetry has a positive and direct effect on financial leverage.

Keywords