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The Capital Structure of Young Firms and the Working Experience of New Entrepreneurs

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Author Info
Enrico Colombatto ()
Arie Melnik ()
Abstract

We use a simple model to analyze the funding stage of new firms and characterize the directional causality between the ir capital structure and the length of prior working experience that entrepreneurs possess. In this light, we test a set of predictions by considering a sample of firms founded by Italian entrepreneurs in the period 1992-2004. We obtain three main results. First, we confirm the evidence presented in the literature, whereby the size of the firm has a significant effect on capital structure. Second, we find that previous working experiences of entrepreneurs in full-time employment (before founding a new firm) have a positive impact on the debt-to-asset ratio of newly founded firms. Third, we show that firms with access to subsidized government debt are able to increase the ir share of debt in total liabilities, even when the size of the subsidy is small.

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Paper provided by ICER - International Centre for Economic Research in its series ICER Working Papers with number 08-2008.

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Length: 23 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2008
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Handle: RePEc:icr:wpicer:08-2008

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure

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  1. Tobias J. Moskowitz & Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, 2002. "The Returns to Entrepreneurial Investment: A Private Equity Premium Puzzle?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 745-778, September. [Downloadable!]
  2. Rebel A. Cole & John D. Wolken, 1995. "Financial services used by small businesses: evidence from the 1993 National Survey of Small Business Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), issue Jul, pages 629-667.
  3. Bernard F. Lentz & David N. Laband, 1990. "Entrepreneurial Success and Occupational Inheritance among Proprietors," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 23(3), pages 563-79, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Chittenden, Francis & Hall, Graham & Hutchinson, Patrick, 1996. " Small Firm Growth, Access to Capital Markets and Financial Structure: Review of Issues and an Empirical Investigation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 59-67, February.
  5. Bennedsen, Morten & Wolfenzon, Daniel, 2000. "The balance of power in closely held corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 113-139. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. " The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-92, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Dunn, Thomas & Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, 2000. "Financial Capital, Human Capital, and the Transition to Self-Employment: Evidence from Intergenerational Links," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 282-305, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Astebro, Thomas & Bernhardt, Irwin, 2003. "Start-up financing, owner characteristics, and survival," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 303-319. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
  11. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. " A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-83, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Tobias J. Moskowitz & Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, 2002. "The Returns to Entrepreneurial Investment: A Private Equity Premium Puzzle?," NBER Working Papers 8876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Thomas Dunn & Douglas Holtz-Eakin, 2000. "Financial Capital, Human Capital, and the Transition to Self-Employment:Evidence from Intergenerational Links," NBER Working Papers 5622, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. 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)
    Other versions:
  15. Hutchinson, Robert W, 1995. " The Capital Structure and Investment Decisions of the Small Owner-Managed Firm: Some Exploratory Issues," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 231-39, June.
  16. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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