This paper presents an empirical examination of firm characteristic determinants of the capital structure of a sample of 299 Irish small and medium sized firms (SMEs). Hypotheses formulated from pecking order and agency theories incorporating a financial growth life cycle approach are tested on...

The key contribution of this paper is an empirical examination of the financial growth life cycle model by combining a number of statistical tests. This approach is significantly different to that traditionally adopted in empirical investigations of SME financing, which is to examine the...

This paper investigates the financing of 739 Cleantech firms in the UK that have recently raised equity finance. We find that Small and Medium Sized Cleantech firms raise external equity due to financial constraints and to ameliorate illiquidity. We also provide evidence that intangibility does...

This study examines the decision by firm owners to apply, or not, for intermediated debt. Based on a sample of SMEs in 9 European countries over the period 2009-2012, drawing on the ECB SAFE database, we examine firm characteristics, institutional and cultural factors. We focus our analyses on...

Frequently described as a ‘much ignored' focus of academic research, small venture financing has been the subject of a burgeoning literature in the past two decades. A considerable amount of research comprises empirical tests of theories developed in the field of corporate finance....

The recent surge in use of alternative sources of entrepreneurial finance is viewed as transformative, providing entrepreneurs with an increased variety of resourcing options. Through exploring cognitive heuristics of entrepreneurs' financing decisions, this study examines provision of...

We investigate the effectiveness of government backed venture capital schemes (GVCs) in funding early stage entrepreneurial ventures. Addressing fundamental issues of additionality, crowding out, economic impact and sustainability, we discover that UK GVC-backed schemes have evolved to provide...

We provide new insights into the business lending decisions of institutional investors in online credit markets. We benchmark the lending performance of institutional investors against that of retail investors. Institutional investors generally screen loans better than retail investors, while...

This paper presents an empirical examination of firm characteristic determinants of the capital structure of a sample of 299 Irish small and medium sized firms (SMEs hereafter). Hypotheses are formulated from pecking order and agency theories incorporating a financial growth life cycle approach,...

This paper examines the financing of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs hereafter) through a financial growth life cycle paradigm. Reporting the financing patterns of 299 Irish SMEs across six age categories, the relative importance of sources of debt and equity finance for each age...