Author

  • Nor Farradila Abdul Aziz

    • Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
    • Malaysia

  • Amirul Afif Muhamat

    • Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia
    • Malaysia

  • Dania Carmila Sait

    • Standard Chartered Global Business Services Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
    • Malaysia

  • Nurul Husna Abd Jalil

    • Prudential Service Asia Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
    • Malaysia

  • Tia Yuliawati

    • Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
    • Indonesia

  • Clarashinta Canggih

    • Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia
    • Indonesia

Corresponding Author

Abstract

The capital structure decision remains an important issue in Shariah-compliant corporate finance, particularly for financial institutions whose regulatory requirements and risk-sharing structures differ from those of conventional corporations. Despite the development of Islamic finance, empirical evidence on the firm-specific determinants of leverage among foreign-owned international Takaful operators in Malaysia remains limited. This study examines the effects of firm age, firm size, liquidity, profitability, and company growth on capital structure using panel data from four foreign-owned international Takaful operators in Malaysia. Capital structure is proxied by the total-liabilities-to-total-assets ratio, which represents overall balance-sheet leverage rather than conventional interest-bearing debt alone. Audited annual financial statements were analysed using panel data regression with cluster-robust standard errors. The findings indicate that firm age, firm size, and liquidity are positively and statistically associated with leverage, whereas profitability and company growth show negative but statistically insignificant relationships. The results suggest that organizational maturity, scale, and liquidity are relevant to the liability structure of international Takaful operators, although the findings should be interpreted within the distinctive regulatory and Shariah-compliant characteristics of the industry. Overall, the evidence provides partial support for the Trade-off Theory and limited support for the Pecking Order Theory when these frameworks are adapted to the Takaful setting. The study contributes to the limited literature on capital structure in Islamic insurance and offers implications for the management of leverage, liquidity, and solvency within international Takaful operators.

Keywords

References

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How to Cite

Abdul Aziz, N. F., Mohd Kassim, N. A., Muhamat, A. A., Sait, D. C., Jalil, N. H. A., Yuliawati, T., & Canggih, C. (2026). Determinants of Capital Structure Decisions Among International Takaful Operators In Malaysia: Evidence From Panel Data Analysis. Information Management and Business Review, 18(4(I), 66-76. https://doi.org/10.22610/imbr.v18i4(I).4957

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Copyright (c) 2026 Nor Farradila Abdul Aziz (Author); Nor Akila Mohd Kassim (Corresponding Author); Amirul Afif Muhamat, Dania Carmila Sait, Nurul Husna Abd Jalil, Tia Yuliawati, Clarashinta Canggih (Author)

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Vol. 18 No. 4(I) (2026) Title unavailable View issue contents

Published

2026-10-26

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