Financing the Small Firm Start-Up: Determinants of Debt Use

While academic research concerning capital structure of large corporations has been abundant in the finance literature, studies of small firms have been somewhat less common, and investigation of capital structure at origin (start-up) has been virtually nil. In this paper we present empirical evidence concerning the start-up capital structures of small firms. We base this investigation upon characteristics of both owner and firm. We find the percent of the owner\u27s income expected to be derived from the business to be positively associated with debt use and the owner\u27s age to be negatively associated with debt use. We find that more debt is obtained if the business owner is married and less if he or she is black. Similarly, more debt is prevalent among start-up firms in transportation and utilities than those in other industries. When debt obtained from other than financial institutions is considered, factors such as gender, experience, education, and expected firm size also play a role in the structure of start-up capital

Revisiting M&M with Taxes: An Alternative Equilibrating Process

Modigliani and Miller present an equity-quantity shifting equilibrating process to achieve an optimal firm value in the presence of corporate taxes. However, in the era in which they derived their various propositions regarding the relation between a firm’s value and its capital structure, well-capitalized takeover specialists including private equity firms and sovereign funds did not exist, at least by today’s standards. In this paper we develop a simple arbitrage strategy, made viable by the presence of takeover firms, which presents an alternative equilibrating process to achieve the same optimal firm value. This alternative process is markedly different from that of the Modigliani and Miller theorem in terms of its predictions for debt use and restores the prospect of capital structure irrelevancy despite the existence of corporate taxes

ECLAPTE: Effective Closure of LAParoTomy in Emergency-2023 World Society of Emergency Surgery guidelines for the closure of laparotomy in emergency settings

Laparotomy incisions provide easy and rapid access to the peritoneal cavity in case of emergency surgery. Incisional hernia (IH) is a late manifestation of the failure of abdominal wall closure and represents frequent complication of any abdominal incision: IHs can cause pain and discomfort to the patients but also clinical serious sequelae like bowel obstruction, incarceration, strangulation, and necessity of reoperation. Previous guidelines and indications in the literature consider elective settings and evidence about laparotomy closure in emergency settings is lacking. This paper aims to present the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) project called ECLAPTE (Effective Closure of LAParoTomy in Emergency): the final manuscript includes guidelines on the closure of emergency laparotomy

CAPITAL BUDGETING UNDER UNCERTAINTY: AN OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT APPROACH

For many firms, especially those with a high degree of operating or financial leverage, standard capital budgeting techniques do not allow for the incorporation of enough important economic or firm specific information. Nor do most techniques allow for the conduct of sensitivity analysis as it pertains to the capital budgeting decision. This thesis presents a capital budgeting model, a simulation model, which ties anticipated cash flows to standard economic factors and derives a distribution of net present values for each project under consideration. Stochastic dominance is then utilized to provide the decision criterion to choose from among these distributions of net present values. Developed, also, is an application of this model to aircraft procurement decisions in the commercial airline industry. Economic variable sensitivity analysis is performed within several of the project comparisons utilized. Further applications of this model are discussed as logical extensions of the work presented here. Among these extensions is the development of hedging strategies, to include the use of options and futures, to reduce project risk. Use of this model within a decisions support framework is cited as its most likely future means of implementation

Corporate Financial Statements And The Impact Of Health Care Costs Recognition

This paper empirically analyzes the economic consequences of a forthcoming rule on accounting for post-retirement obligations.  This rule calls for the recognition of health care liabilities on the employers’ financial statements and prescribes that the cost associated with these obligations be accounted for on the accrual basis.  Based on a sample of 103 firms, this study reports that compliance with this rule could have a dramatic impact on firms’ equity, leverage, income and key financial ratios

Heterogeneity among barterers and vendors in the informal economy

This research explored the nature of suppliers who participate in informal markets. The study was based on a national probability sample of 1,600 households. Those that had engaged in both barterer and vendor behaviors were found to have the most distinct profile. The barterer/vendor group demonstrated the highest level of expenditures with informal suppliers (suppliers operating in an off-the-books fashion). They were also found to be the youngest and to have the highest level of income and education. The strong relationship between acting as an informal supplier, as both a vendor and a barterer, and the propensity to consume in informal markets is the most striking conclusion of the study.Barter, Economic indicators, Informal markets, Vendors