The chip crisis and its effect on capital structure dynamics of automobile firms during the pandemic

Abstract

This study examines the impact of chip shortages on the financial leverage of automobile firms worldwide over the period COVID-19 using a panel vector autoregression analysis. This paper analyzes the chip crisis as an exogenous shock in a highly heterogeneous and dynamic framework for automobile firms during the pandemic period. The findings show that the chip shortage has a negative effect on financial leverage of automobile firms and increases their internal financing needs during the pandemic. This study adds new insights to the current literature by considering the chip crisis to the corporate dynamics of automobile firms.