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Is The Cost Of Debt Capital Higher For Younger Firms?

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  • Ari Hyytinen
  • Mika Pajarinen

Abstract

Not much is known about the returns to aging (maturing) in the market for small business finance. Using a large panel of closely held micro firms, we document that the cost of debt capital is higher for young firms. The main finding of this paper is that this negative qualitative relation is also obtained when cross‐sectional variation in unobservable creditworthiness of small businesses and within‐firm (i.e., inter‐temporal) variation in their observable creditworthiness are held constant. We control for the former by firm‐specific fixed effects and for the latter by a commercial credit score. We also provide an estimate of the quantitative magnitude of the aging effect, on which both economic theory and earlier empirical research are silent. We find that when a small business ages one year, its cost of debt capital decreases by 1–2 basis points. The effect is neither negligible nor alarmingly large.

Suggested Citation

  • Ari Hyytinen & Mika Pajarinen, 2007. "Is The Cost Of Debt Capital Higher For Younger Firms?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(1), pages 55-71, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scotjp:v:54:y:2007:i:1:p:55-71
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9485.2007.00404.x
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    2. Alfredo Grau & Araceli Reig, 2021. "Operating leverage and profitability of SMEs: agri-food industry in Europe," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 221-242, June.
    3. Michael Pfaffermayr & Matthias Stöckl & Hannes Winner, 2013. "Capital Structure, Corporate Taxation and Firm Age," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 109-135, March.
    4. Ylhäinen, Ilkka, 2017. "Life-cycle effects in small business finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 176-196.
    5. Marc Cowling & Susan Marlow & Weixi Liu, 0. "Gender and bank lending after the global financial crisis: are women entrepreneurs safer bets?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-28.
    6. Stropnik Neca & Korošec Bojana & Tominc Polona, 2017. "The Relationship Between the Intellectual Capital Disclosure and Cost of Debt Capital – A Case of Slovenian Private Audited Organisations," Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, Sciendo, vol. 63(4), pages 3-16, December.
    7. Paulo Nunes & Marco Gonçalves & Zélia Serrasqueiro, 2013. "The influence of age on SMEs’ growth determinants: empirical evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 249-272, February.
    8. Wang, Xiaodong & Han, Liang & Huang, Xing, 2020. "Bank competition, concentration and EU SME cost of debt," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    9. Rafaelita M. Aldaba, . "Understanding the Relationship Between Globalization and Survival of Philippine SMEs," Chapters, in: Chin Hee Hahn & Dionisius A. Narjoko (ed.), Globalization and Performance of Small and Large Firms, chapter 7, pages VII-1 - V, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    10. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Paulo Maçãs Nunes, 2012. "Is Age a Determinant of SMEs’ Financing Decisions? Empirical Evidence Using Panel Data Models," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(4), pages 627-654, July.
    11. Marc Cowling & Weixi Liu & Maria Minniti & Ning Zhang, 2016. "UK credit and discouragement during the GFC," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1049-1074, December.
    12. Kallandranis, Christos & Anastasiou, Dimitrios & Drakos, Konstantinos, 2023. "Credit rationing prevalence for Eurozone firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    13. Marc Cowling & Susan Marlow & Weixi Liu, 2020. "Gender and bank lending after the global financial crisis: are women entrepreneurs safer bets?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 853-880, December.
    14. Paulo Maçãs Nunes & Ana Viveiros & Zélia Serrasqueiro, 2011. "Are the determinants of young SME profitability different? Empirical evidence using dynamic estimators," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 443-470, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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