Filippo Di Pietro

The Role of the Regional Financial Sector in the Capital Structure of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Palacín-Sánchez M.-J. and Di Pietro P. The role of the regional financial sector in the capital structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Regional Studies. This article examines the role that the financial sector plays in explaining differences in the capital structure of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across regions belonging to a single country. Specifically, it studies the effect of the development of the financial sector and of banking market concentration on leverage of firms. This research uses a sample of 8142 SMEs representing every Spanish region for the period 1999–2007, and applies the panel data methodology. The results suggest that the capital structure depends on the regional financial sector, in terms of both its level of development and its degree of competition.

Trade credit in SMEs: a quantile regression approach

ABSTRACT This article analyses the determinants of the trade credit in Spanish manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a new perspective. Specifically, we focus on the relationship between trade credit and other relevance financial resources: bank credit and self-financing. For the first time in the literature, a quantile regression approach is used, which takes into account the heterogeneity of firms in different quantiles of trade credit distribution. Our results show that the relationship between trade credit and other financial sources presents dissimilarities, including differences in sign, on SMEs with different degrees of trade credit. Our findings help to clarify the confusing results achieved in previous research on this topic.