Using panel data for the period 1999--2003, this study shows that internal and external financing are not perfect substitutes, not corroborating the theorem of Modigliani and Miller. Portuguese service industries prefer internal to external financing, corroborating Pecking Order theory. The...

Using dynamic panel estimators, this article shows rejection of Gibrat’s law for Portuguese companies in the service sector. In companies as a whole, we find that growth depends positively on growth in the previous period and on debt, and depends negatively on size. When we subdivide the...

Based on various panel models, we study the profitability determinants of Portuguese service industries. The results obtained show that profitability is persistent over time, and that for larger companies with greater growth, a lower level of debt and lower level of fixed assets are more...