The article analyzes the factors determining the capital structure of the Spanish small and medium enterprises [SMEs]. The analysis is grounded on the agency theory, the signalling approach and the pecking order theory. In particular, the article provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis...

We identify firms according to two life cycle stages, namely growth and maturity, and test the pecking order theory of financing. We find a strong maturity effect, i.e., the pecking order theory describes the financing behavior of mature firms better than growth firms. Our findings show that...

This paper shows that obligations from debt hinder tacit collusion if equity owners are protected by limited liability. In contrast to its advantageous commitment value in short-run competition, leverage reduces profits from infinite interaction. Contrasting uncorrelated shocks with a cyclical...

In einem kürzlich erschienenen ZfB-Beitrag schlagen Förster et al. eine Vorgehensweise für die Erfassung der Zinsschranke und ihrer Wirkung auf die zinsinduzierte Steuerersparnis vor. Dieser Beitrag nimmt kritisch dazu Stellung: Es wird gezeigt, dass die dort abgeleiteten Formeln für die...

In a dynamic model of optimal security design, we show when firms should preserve "equity capacity" through choosing high target leverage or "debt capacity" through choosing low target leverage. Thereby, firms reduce a problem of underinvestment or overinvestment when they must raise future...

We study a general equilibrium model with production where financial markets are incomplete. At a competitive equilibrium firms take their production and financial decisions so as to maximize their value. We show that shareholders unanimously support value maximization. Furthermore, competitive...

After 1985, a large number of LBO project were not able to meet their debt. Among these cases, the Federated Department Stores LBO repurchased by Campeau and the Gateway LBO repurchased by Macy's. But, the conventional view of LBO transactions is that they are designed to improve the efficiency...

The Modigliani and Miller propositions on the irrelevancy of capital structure and dividends are shown to be valid in a large class of models with asymmetric information. The main assumption is that managerial compensation is chosen optimally. This differs from most recent papers on this topic,...