Abstract:

Contrary to the trade-off theory, pecking order theory is based on the information asymmetry that exists between internal stakeholders (owners, managers) and external stakeholders (donors) to the company. This paper is interested in testing the relation between ownership structure, the life cycle and the funding classification in Tunisian companies in the period 2005- 2014. The hypotheses tested were derived from the pecking order models and analysis was conducted on data panel with an econometric software Stata. The results show that the pecking order explains the debt in Tunisian companies that are in growth phase, maturity or decline.