This study examines the use and determinants of covenants in Finnish small firms' loans. The results show that 72 of the 642 loan contracts examined include at least one covenant. Negative covenants are more common than affirmative covenants in our sample. We use loan characteristics, firm...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether or not auditor gender has an impact on the magnitude of corporate earnings management in small‐ and medium‐sized private Finnish firms. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the association between auditor gender...

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on economic consequences of audit outcomes by investigating the concept of audit quality operationalised as seven components of audit benefits to owner-managers of small companies. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyse survey data collected in...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate lender evaluations of start-up success in a sample of Finnish firms that are customers of a state-owned financial institution. The database allows the authors to examine how qualitative information, based on the personal history,...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that ownership structure and board composition have on financial performance in a sample of Finnish small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach – The data for this study were collected through a...