Abstract

The study tests empirically whether the leasing decision of United Kingdom companies is determined by four company-specific characteristics. The findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between the propensity to lease and both leverage and ownership structure. The study offers only limited support for the view that the propensity to lease is likely to fall as company size increases, and provides no support for the hypothesis that companies with more growth options in their investment opportunity sets will be more likely to lease than companies with more assets-in-place.