标题:An Investigation of the Moderating Effect of Liquidity on the Relationship between Debt and Financial Performance of REITs in Malaysia: An Optimal Liquidity Estimation
摘要:Numerous studies on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have claimed that the high dividend
payout requirement has constrained the ability of REITs to use internal earnings and that they have
to rely on debt financing to support their funding requirements. However, there is also some empirical
evidence showing that the use of debt by REITs has adverse effects on the financial performance
of REITs. To reconcile the empirical evidence that is obtained from the REITs literature, this
study aims to empirically examine how and to what extent the effects of debt on financial performance
are contingent on other factors. In this regard, liquidity is hypothesized to moderate the
relationship between debt and financial performance and this study will simultaneously estimate
the optimal liquidity level that could optimize the financial performance of REITs. The sample for
the study consists of all MREITs for the time period from 2005-2016. The study applies the continuous
sequential breakpoint threshold regression model specifications of WarpPLS 5.0 (Bai & Perron,
2003; Kock, 2015; Hansen, 2001; Perron, 2006) to analyze the moderating effects of liquidity and the
optimal liquidity level on the debt-financial performance relationship, respectively. The findings reveal
that the correlation between financial performance and debt is conditioned by liquidity while
preserving a certain level of liquidity is negatively related to the debt and financial performance
relationship. Thus, an appropriate level of liquidity needs to be maintained to attain the optimal
level of liquidity and to optimize financial performance. It is found that each MREITs needs a liquidity
level of more than 5.78% of its total net assets to optimize its financial performance. The findings
offer a useful guide for MREITs to manage their optimal liquidity level.