In this paper, we evaluate firm-, industry- and country-specific factors determining a firm's capital structure. The empirical validity of several capital structure theories has been ambiguous so far. We shed light on the main drivers of leverage and depict differences in industry and country...

Financial solidarity between member states of the European Union has a 60 years-old history going back right to the origins of the European project in the early 1950s. However, the first 20 years or so were dominated by the financing of projects in the context of rapidly rebuilding European...