Table 2. Variables description Variable... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2.

Variables description

Variable type	Variable name	Symbol	Proxy measure	Evidence from prior studies
Dependent variable	Leverage	LEV	“It is measured by dividing the total liabilities upon total assets”	Güner (2016), Yildirim et al. (2018)
Independent variables	Return on equity	ROE	“ROE is calculated by profit after tax divided total equity shares at the end of the year”	Al-ahdal et al. (2020), Rouf (2015)
	Tobin-Q	TQ	“Tobin’s Q can calculate by the ratio of the market capitalization plus total debt divided by total asset of the company”	Al-ahdal et al. (2020), Yameen et al. (2019)
	Liquidity	LIQ	“Current assets divided by current liabilities”	Güner (2016), Rouf (2015)
	Return on capital employed	ROCE	“It is calculated by comparing net profit after tax with capital employed”	Al-Matari et al. (2014), Yameen et al. (2019)
	Return on assets	ROA	“It is measured by the percentage of the net profit of one year for the total assets of the same year”	Almaqtari et al. (2019), Rouf (2015)
	Firm size	FSIZE	“The natural logarithm of total assets”	Matemilola et al. (2013), Yildirim et al. (2018)
	Market value added	MVA	“It can be calculated by the difference between the market value and book value of equity”	Al-Matari et al. (2014), Imberman and Lovenheim (2016)

Variable type	Variable name	Symbol	Proxy measure	Evidence from prior studies
Dependent variable	Leverage	LEV	“It is measured by dividing the total liabilities upon total assets”	Güner (2016), Yildirim et al. (2018)
Independent variables	Return on equity	ROE	“ROE is calculated by profit after tax divided total equity shares at the end of the year”	Al-ahdal et al. (2020), Rouf (2015)
	Tobin-Q	TQ	“Tobin’s Q can calculate by the ratio of the market capitalization plus total debt divided by total asset of the company”	Al-ahdal et al. (2020), Yameen et al. (2019)
	Liquidity	LIQ	“Current assets divided by current liabilities”	Güner (2016), Rouf (2015)
	Return on capital employed	ROCE	“It is calculated by comparing net profit after tax with capital employed”	Al-Matari et al. (2014), Yameen et al. (2019)
	Return on assets	ROA	“It is measured by the percentage of the net profit of one year for the total assets of the same year”	Almaqtari et al. (2019), Rouf (2015)
	Firm size	FSIZE	“The natural logarithm of total assets”	Matemilola et al. (2013), Yildirim et al. (2018)
	Market value added	MVA	“It can be calculated by the difference between the market value and book value of equity”	Al-Matari et al. (2014), Imberman and Lovenheim (2016)