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The Determinants of Debt and (Private-) Equity Financing in Young Innovative SMEs: Evidence from Germany

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Author Info
Dorothea Schäfer
Axel Werwatz
Volker Zimmermann

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Abstract

Financial theory creates a puzzle. Some authors argue that high-risk entrepreneurs choose debt contracts instead of equity contracts since risky but high returns are of relatively more value for a loan-financed firm. On the contrary, authors who focus explicitly on start-up finance predict that entrepreneurs are the more likely to seek equity-like venture capital contracts, the more risky their projects are. Our paper makes a first step to resolve this puzzle empirically. We present microeconometric evidence on the determinants of debt and equity financing in young and innovative SMEs. We pay special attention to the role of risk for the choice of the financing method. Since risk is not directly observable we use different indicators for financial and project risk. It turns out that our data generally confirms the hypothesis that the probability that a young high-tech firm receives equity financing is an increasing function of the financial risk. With regard to the intrinsic project risk, our results are less conclusive, as some of our indicators of a risky project are found to have a negative effect on the likelihood to be financed by private equity.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research in its series Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin with number 411.

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Length: 31 p.
Date of creation: 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp411

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Related research
Keywords: Debt and equity financing; Financial risk und project risk; Venture capital and bank financing;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann, 2004. "Financing High-Tech Growth: The Role of Debt or Equity," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2004-19, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
  2. Besanko, David & Thakor, Anjan V, 1987. "Collateral and Rationing: Sorting Equilibria in Monopolistic and Competitive Credit Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 28(3), pages 671-89, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Hellmann, Thomas & Stiglitz, Joseph, 2000. "Credit and equity rationing in markets with adverse selection," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 281-304, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Bester, Helmut, 1987. "The role of collateral in credit markets with imperfect information," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 887-899, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Andreas Hackethal & Reinhard H. Schmidt, 2004. "Financing Patterns: Measurement Concepts and Empirical Results," Working Paper Series: Finance and Accounting 125, Department of Finance, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. [Downloadable!]
  6. Laura Bottazzi & Marco Da Rin, 2002. "Venture capital in Europe and the financing of innovative companies," Economic Policy, CEPR, CES, MSH, vol. 17(34), pages 229-270, 04. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Robert Townsend, 1979. "Optimal contracts and competitive markets with costly state verification," Staff Report 45, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Oliver Hart, 2001. "Financial Contracting," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1079-1100, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Boot, Arnoud W A & Thakor, Anjan V & Udell, Gregory F, 1991. "Secured Lending and Default Risk: Equilibrium Analysis, Policy Implications and Empirical Results," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(406), pages 458-72, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. W. Sauerbrei & P. Royston, 1999. "Building multivariable prognostic and diagnostic models: transformation of the predictors by using fractional polynomials," Journal Of The Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 162(1), pages 71-94. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Steven N. Kaplan & Per Stromberg, 2003. "Financial Contracting Theory Meets the Real World: An Empirical Analysis of Venture Capital Contracts," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 70(2), pages 281-315, 04. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Aghion, Philippe & Bolton, Patrick, 1992. "An Incomplete Contracts Approach to Financial Contracting," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 59(3), pages 473-94, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Oliver Hart, 2001. "Financial Contracting," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1924, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  14. Gale, Douglas & Hellwig, Martin, 1985. "Incentive-Compatible Debt Contracts: The One-Period Problem," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(4), pages 647-63, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Bester,Helmut Hellwig,Martin, 1987. "Moral hazard and equilibrium credit rationing: An overview of the issues," Discussion Paper Serie A 125, University of Bonn, Germany.
  16. Bester, Helmut, 1994. "The Role of Collateral in a Model of Debt Renegotiation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 26(1), pages 72-86, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Allen N. Berger & Gregory F. Udell, 2002. "Small Business Credit Availability and Relationship Lending: The Importance of Bank Organisational Structure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(477), pages F32-F53, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Engel, Dirk & Keilbach, Max, 2007. "Firm-level implications of early stage venture capital investment -- An empirical investigation," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 150-167, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Bester, Helmut, 1985. "Screening vs. Rationing in Credit Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 850-55, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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