The changes in the financial structures of West German industrial enterprises have been investigated in Größl/Stahlecker/Wohlers (2001). The empirical analysis confirmed the hypothesis that small and medium-sized enterprises are confronted with higher - and even rising - financial risks than...

Small and medium-sized enterprises are considered to be the principal generator of new jobs in the industrialised countries at least since the Birch (1979) study. According to this image, they are also stabilising the economy during the business cycles because of the lower volatility of their...