| 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) |