A number of competing theories have developed regarding the use of secured debt by firms. In adverse selection models, borrowers use collateral to signal quality, whilst moral hazard models assume that the use of collateral improves the incentives for borrowers to work hard to repay debt. In...

This paper examines the financial and operating performance of 31 national telecommunication companies in 25 countries that were fully or partially privatised through public share offering between October 1981 and November 1998. Using conventional pre- versus post-privatisation comparisons, we...