Determinants of the Capital Structures of European SMEs

The aim of this paper is to examine the degree to which the determinants of SMEs' capital structures differ between European countries. The study is based on data for four thousand SMEs, five hundred from each of eight European countries. Regressions were run using short-term and long-term debt as dependent variables and profitability, growth, asset structure, size and age as independent variables. A key feature of this paper is the use of restricted and unrestricted regressions to isolate the country-effect from the firm-specific-effect. The results show that variations are likely to be due to country differences as well as firm-specific ones

Entrepreneurship and Public Policy

Public policy is currently shifting from SME policy towards entrepreneurship policy, which supports entrepreneurship without directing attention to quantitative goals and specific firms or employment groups. The institutional framework set by public policy affects the prevalence and performance of both productive entrepreneurship and so-called high-impact entrepreneurship in turn. Although varying contexts and economic systems make prescribing a general panacea impossible, a number of relevant policy areas are identified and analyzed. Independent of environment, productive entrepreneurship should be rewarded and unproductive entrepreneurship should be discouraged. Successful ventures must also have the incentive to continue renewing themselves just as it must be easy to start and expand a business. In particular, we analyze regulatory entry and growth barriers, labor market regulation, liquidity constraints and tax policy at length