The Influences of Financial Leverage and Ownership Structure on Performance of Listed Firms in Vietnam: A Quantile Regression Approach

This study uses quantile regression analysis to examine the interplay among financial leverage, ownership structure, and firm performance within the context of Vietnam, using financial data of listed firms from 2015 to 2022.Evaluating return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), the study reveals consistent negative coefficients for total debt across all quantiles, indicating a detrimental association between debt levels and firm performance.Moreover, the analysis uncovers adverse impacts of government ownership on firm performance across all percentiles, except for the 10th percentile, underscoring governance challenges within state-owned enterprises.Interestingly, foreign ownership initially significantly positively influences firm performance, except at the 90th percentile, suggesting potential complexities at higher ownership concentrations.These findings carry crucial policy implications, highlighting the need for targeted reforms to optimize financial leverage and ownership dynamics, enhance governance mechanisms within state-owned enterprises, and mitigate the adverse effects of concentrated foreign ownership.