For small and medium enterprises (SMEs), various types of debt are not identical. There are specific costs and benefits associated with each funding source. Using a sample of Portuguese SMEs over the years 1990-2000, we show that the asset and liability side of the balance sheet are...

Using data from six OECD countries, we examine the proposition that the costs associated with shareholder-debtholder agency conflicts can be reduced by allowing banks to hold equity in the firms to which they lend. Although the sensitivity of leverage to potential wealth expropriation is indeed...