Abstract: This paper empirically examines the general pattern of capital structure of A-share listed companies in China over time and its endogenous characteristics, and provides a theoretical explanation to clarify the economic reasons for the endogenous time effect of capital structure. The empirical test shows that the capital structure of the company shows a significant characteristic of rising and then falling with the time of listing, and this characteristic is not affected by other exogenous factors, so the capital structure of listed companies has a significant endogenous time effect. This result is explained by the fact that approval requirements and constraints drive firms to maintain a low capital structure at the beginning of their IPO, expansion activities and the search for an optimal capital structure will drive a rapid rise in capital structure after the IPO, and then firms' trade-off between bankruptcy risk and refinancing conditions will eventually improve their capital structure.

Keywords:Listed Companies; Capital Structure; Time Effect