Using internal data of a leasing company in Germany, we examine the determinants of the probability and use of leasing by small firms. We find that small and young firms are likely to be constrained on the leasing market but use leasing to increase their debt capacity. Beyond contract- and...

Using a lender cutoff rule that generates plausibly exogenous variation in credit supply, I investigate a new channel through which funding shocks are transmitted to the real economy. Based on a sample of more than 15,000 loan applications from small- and medium-sized enterprises, I find that...

Based on a unique dataset taken from the internal credit rating database of a large German bank we investigate capital structure determinants of German small and medium sized firms for a period of 2000 to 2014. In this economically favorable period for German small and medium sized firms with...

Using a lender cut-off rule that generates plausibly exogenous variation in credit supply, I analyze real effects of loan rejections in a sample of small and medium-sized enterprises. I find that loan rejections reduce asset growth, investments, and employment, and these effects are concentrated...

This study explores companies' financing decisions from a new perspective, those of the bank advisers, who are deeply involved in the decision processes, but are nevertheless outsiders. In our survey, corporate advisers of a large German bank report their perception of clients' decisions. The...

We use a dynamic framework and panel methodology to investigate the determinants of a firms' time-varying capital structure. Our sample comprises 706 European firms from France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. over the period from 1983 to 2002. If capital structure adjustment is costly, firms may...

This paper investigates how multinational firms choose their capital structure in response to political risk. We focus on two choice variables, the leverage and the ownership structure of the foreign affiliate, and we distinguish different types of political risk, like expropriation, corruption...

We investigate the interdependence of debt financing and R&D activities of young firms. Using micro-level data of the KfW/ZEW Start-up Panel, our estimation results show that firm characteristics are more important than personal characteristics of the founders for explaining young firms'...