Comparison between the financial structure of SMES and that of large enterprises (LES) using the BACH database.

This study examines the financial structures and the performances of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as opposed to large enterprises (LEs) on the basis of the BACH database, which is the most advanced publicly available database for comparisons in this field. It covers the period 1990-1996 and concerns 9 countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Japan and the United States. It deals with manufacturing only since this industry provides the best-quality data.