Third, we measured the debt maturity structure with variable LTDEBT,
calculated as long-term debt divided by total assets (Barclay and Smith, 1995).
Shorter debt maturity is related to a higher level of asymmetric information
(Guedes and Opler, 1996; Stohs & Mauer, 1996, among others). Guney et al.
(2003) and Ferreira and Vilela (2004) point out that the use of short-term debt
increases the risk of refinancing. As a consequence, firms with a larger proportion
of short-term debt will keep higher cash levels in order to avoid financial distress.
Consequently, a negative relationship between debt maturity and cash holdings
is expected.