This article examines the determinants of the mix of private and public debt using detailed information on the debt structure of 250 publicly traded corporations from 1980 through 1990. The authors find that the relationship between bank borrowing and the importance of growth opportunities...

Bankers appear to play a special role in providing commitment-based financing to corporations. This type of lending is important not only for small firms that lack access to public debt markets but for large and medium-size companies as well. For such companies, commitment-based financing...