Private firm financing, given the far-reaching importance of non-publicly traded companies for global output and employment, is still a relatively underexplored area. Since the seminal work of Petersen and Rajan (1994), only a small branch of research into private firms' cost of debt has been...

This study investigates the relationship between cost stickiness and income smoothing. Both arise as a result of managerial discretion. However, an asymmetrical reaction of costs to changes in activity counteracts an ambition to report smooth income. Inversely, reducing costs during periods of...