The global financial crisis had a major impact on the cost and availability of finance for infrastructure-based public-private partnerships (PPPs). In response, policy-makers have introduced models of 'credit-enhancement' that aim to reduce the risk faced by private investors and attract...

Offtaking agreements are an important risk transfer mechanism in project finance. However, they can also be thought of as a trade-off between lower market and higher counterparty risks. We use the case of the Quezon Power Ltd Co. to test the effect of higher counterparty risk on the cost of...

We study the drivers of financial sophistication in small family firms. Sophistication is defined as the use of non-basic financial products such as options, swaps, debt restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory services. Our analysis is based on a unique dataset with detailed...

Using data from 708 small and medium Italian firms during the period of 2002-2004, we find that in family firms (FFs) a nonfamily Chief Financial Officer (CFO) drives firm performance in a positive direction. FFs with a nonfamily CFO perform better than both FFs with a family CFO and nonfamily...

We analyze the relationship between contracts and returns in private equity (PE) investments. Contractual control in the form of covenants tends to be employed to identify good deals. Better quality firms are more likely to have covenant-rich contracts, as they are less concerned by the...