Limitations and Future Research
Limitations of this study include a limited data set, single country limitation, and different management affiliations. First, the complete data set includes the financial data as well as the stock options of CEOs, officers, and directors and the duality and tenure of CEOs. Since only those companies providing complete information could be included in the study, survival bias is possible. Second, because the data were only collected from U.S.-based lodging firms, the findings may not apply to other countries. For example, some cultures with lower power distances (i.e., stronger self-regulation than institutional management) or higher collectivism may show stronger stewardship tendencies than others, which could lead to different results. Finally, different types of management affiliations, as found in the lodging industry (e.g., separation of a company into parent, owner, management, and chains), could be a way to manage financial risks. These different types of affiliations between parents and other affiliates could significantly influence both capital structure and financial risks. These limitations suggest potential avenues for future research. First, a more complete set of data would provide a better understanding of the influence of leadership structure attributes on capital structure. Second, it would be interesting to investigate whether there is a cultural component that influences the relationship between leadership attributes and capital structure. Finally, combining financial risks with the influences of different managerial affiliations on capital structure would be an interesting topic to pursue in a future study.
