[01] Mahdi Filsaraei, epartment of Accounting, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd, Iran. [02] Seyyed Ghadir Zarifian, MSc Accounting, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran. [03] Ali Naghizade, MSc Accounting, Islamic Azad University, Neyshabour, Iran.

This study examines the relationship between growth opportunities and leverage of firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange and for the growth opportunities has used the ratio of market value of assets to book value of assets. In order to differentiate between corporates growth opportunities, the sample companies, based on their market value to book value, were divided into 3 groups: firms with High growth opportunities, firms with average growth opportunities and firms with low growth opportunities. The study used 65 firms data during the period 2005 to 2014. The results show that the low, medium and high growth opportunities are positively related with leverage ratios.

Growth Opportunities, Capital Structure, Corporate Leverage, Profitability, Debt Ratio

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