“…This choice is prioritized if non-debt tax shields (e.g., depreciation charges) are large enough to lower the tax burden [ 47 ]. The MENA financial markets are still undeveloped, and smaller companies have greater costs of external capital than larger companies, as they are subject to additional information asymmetry problems [ 46 ]; in addition, the unpredictable investment climate encourages large corporations to use retained earnings [ 48 ]. Supporting the view of the most studies, we anticipate bigger enterprises to be more indebted.…”