This article investigates the effect of liquidity on the speed of adjustment (SOA) of corporate leverage at the individual company level. Using panel analysis of data from 35 countries between 1996 and 2016, we find that high-liquidity firms have a significantly faster SOA than less liquid firms. This result survives a series of robustness checks and holds after addressing the endogeneity concern using exogenous shocks and additional control variables. We find that the positive effect of liquidity on the SOA exists only for over-levered firms, and this impact is moderated in countries with bankruptcy codes. We further find that the positive liquidity-SOA relationship is less (more) pronounced for firms in strong (weak) institutional environments. The results provide new insights into the role of liquidity in firms’ capital structure decisions and the determinants of capital structure dynamics.

JEL classification: G12, G32

本文研究了流动性对单个公司级别公司杠杆调整速度（SOA）的影响。使用1996年至2016年间来自35个国家/地区的数据的面板分析，我们发现高流动性公司的SOA明显快于流动性较低的公司。使用外部冲击和其他控制变量解决内生性问题后，该结果可以经受一系列的稳健性检查并保持不变。我们发现，流动性对SOA的积极影响仅存在于杠杆过高的公司中，而在具有破产法的国家中，这种影响得到了缓和。我们进一步发现，对于处于强（弱）制度环境中的公司来说，流动性与SOA的正相关关系不太明显（多）。

JEL分类：G12，G32