The paper examines the relationship between investments and cash flows for a panel of 204 low- and medium-technology firms located in the UK, France, Italy and Spain, 108 of which underwent a buyout between 1997 and 2004. The control sample of non-buyouts is selected through a propensity score...

This paper offers a quantitative description of European private equity markets and compares the recent development in these markets with the development of the US venture capital market. Moreover, the paper addresses the differences between private equity investors acting in a single national...

The question of leasing credit as a substitute or complement of a banking loan has still not been resolved in the financial literature. As a continuation of these arguments, the objective of this article is, on the one hand, to determine the characteristics of firms using leasing credit and on...

The precarious employment situation in the EU has given rise to public policies that aim at giving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) better access to finance. SMEs may face difficulties due to information problems and other inefficiencies in loan markets. However, the European evidence...

This paper explores empirically the effect of consolidation in the French banking industry and of Basel II on the availability of credit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Consolidation has been associated with an increase in the number of banks the average firm borrows from and this...

Deregulation and progress in information and communication technologies have increased the geographical expansion of banking structures and instruments. This makes banks operationally close to the borrowers. At the same time, banking industry consolidation have induced a geographical...

According to Kremp and Sevestre (2013), French firms did not suffer from credit restriction during the period 2004-2010. This study seeks to identify the benefits of bank-firm relationships when credit is unconstrained. By using a unique set of data collected from a French relationship bank...

Very small businesses (VSB) experience financing constraints unlike those encountered by larger companies; however, they are rarely studied. Their unique characteristics, including the important information asymmetry they suffer and the predominant role of their shareholder–manager, may be...

This paper provides a policy-oriented summary of the econometric study commissioned by the European Court of Auditors, in the context of its audit of EU-funded loan guarantee instruments.2 The study assesses the real performance effects of EU-guaranteed loans to SMEs disbursed in France during...