•  
  •  
 

Type of Submission

Refereed Article

Abstract

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are responsible for more than seventy-five percent of the hotel ownership structure in the USA. The effects of COVID-19 restrictions on hotel REITs were devastating due to the unpredictability of revenues and cash flows, directly impacting managerial decisions on how to adapt REITs' capital structure quickly. This paper used quarterly hotel REIT financial data of the 18 most representative U.S. H-REITs from January 2015 through December 2020 to understand the moderating effects of COVID-19 on hotel REITs' capital structure determinants. Analyzing a panel data of 472 observations, this study found robust empirical evidence that confirms COVID-19 moderates the relationships between hotel REITs' capital structure and its determinants. Adapting constructs from the Pecking Order Theory and Trade-off Theory, this study found that hotel REITs’ capital structure determinants were different during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results, theoretical contributions, and managerial implications were explored in the final section.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/3qf8-4966

Share

COinS