Recent trends in corporate leverage

Corporations - Finance ; Flow of funds ; Debt

The increasing importance of retailers' inventories

Although inventory--sales (IS) ratios and inventory volatility have declined somewhat since the early 1980s, little evidence supports the view that declining IS ratios are associated with declines in inventory investment volatility. In the retail sector, IS ratios have risen and inventory investment volatility has, at best, not increased, pointing to a more significant role in future cyclical fluctuations.Inventories ; Investments ; Retail trade

Inventories and output volatility

Analyzing disaggregate data on inventories and sales from the U.S. manufacturing and trade sector between 1960 and 1997 yields four main findings. First, I find that IS ratios are somewhat lower after 1984: 1 among durable goods manufacturers and durable goods retailers outside the motor vehicle industry. Second, I find that industries which have lowered their IS ratios tend to be those in which the variance of output relative to sale has declined. Third, by decomposing the variance of output into its components, I find that the variance of sales is less important, and the variance of inventory investment is more important, after 1984:1 than in earlier years for the overall manufacturing and trade sector. Finally, the evidence suggests that industries where IS ratios fell are those where inventory investment volatility played a smaller role in output volatility in the later period.Inventories

Investment, GNP, and real exchange rates

Foreign exchange rates ; Capital investments

Performance and access to government guarantees: the case of small business investment companies

This article analyzes the performance of small business investment companies (SBICs) that are chartered and regulated by the Small Business Administration (SBA). Our principal finding is that poor performance over the 1986-91 period is associated with high usage of funds from the SBA.Small business

How are small firms financed? Evidence from small business investment companies

This article examines the investment decisions of small business investment companies (SBICs). The results indicate that potential costs of contracting among SBICs, small firms, and others may have significant effects on how small firms are funded. For instance, projects generating tangible assets and firms operating in industries with few growth opportunities are more likely to be financed with debt than nondebt.Small business ; Venture capital

A Trojan horse or the golden fleece? small business investment companies and government guarantees

Profitability is a central concern when governments provide guarantees to increase the flow of funds to disadvantaged groups. We examine the profitability of small business investment companies (SBICs) that are chartered and regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to finance the activities of small firms. We document, over the 1986-91 period, dismal performance by SBICs. Because SBICs have access to government-guaranteed funds, financial distress among SBICs can expose the SBA, and hence taxpayers, to losses. Using two alternative sample selection models, we examine the relationship between SBICs’ use of SBA funds and returns on equity (ROE) and survival probabilities. The first sample selection model is based on a model of failure/survival. The second selection model is based on our observation that many SBICs do not take advantage of SBA leverage: nearly one-third of SBICs use no leverage at all, and that figure rises to three-fifths for bank-owned SBICs. The results from our sample selection models indicate that SBA leverage--the amount of funds borrowed from the SBA as a percent of private capital--reduces ROE and the probability of survival. In addition, we find that the probability of using SBA leverage decreases for bank-owned SBICs relative to other SBICs and for highly profitable and efficient SBICs, while it increases for SBICs using debt to finance the activities of small firms. Thus, our results suggest that an SBIC’s performance is negatively correlated with SBA leverage.Small business

Issues in funding the activities of small firms through SBICs

Bank investments ; Small business

Debt in the 1990s

Debt

Agrotóxicos e saúde: realidade e desafios para mudança de práticas na agricultura.

Este artigo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa que teve como objetivo principal caracterizar o contexto e as práticas relacionadas ao uso de agrotóxicos entre agricultores residentes na Serrinha do Mendanha, comunidade agrícola situada em Campo Grande, município do Rio de Janeiro. A proposta metodológica teve uma abordagem qualitativa, sendo a principal fonte de dados a aplicação de questionário semiestruturado. Participaram da pesquisa 38 agricultores familiares. O perfil socioeconômico mostra uma realidade de idosos no trabalho agrícola, percentuais expressivos de analfabetismo e baixa renda. O uso de agrotóxicos é uma rotina para essas famílias. Apesar de existir uma naturalização do uso, a maioria dos informantes acredita que agrotóxicos podem afetar sua saúde, apresenta preocupação com o consumidor e gostaria de conhecer formas alternativas de cultivo. Tais achados apontam para a possibilidade de busca de mudança de práticas. Não se trata de repasse de conhecimento, pois este tipo de informação de alguma forma eles já possuem. Trata–se de desenvolver estratégias objetivando a minimização dos riscos ou mesmo o desuso de agrotóxicos na lavoura