Discussion paper

DP14512 Set-up Costs and the Financing of Young Firms

We show that set-up costs are a key determinant of the capital structure of young firms. Theoretically, when firms face high set-up costs, they can only be established by lengthening debt maturity. Empirically, we use a large sample of French firms to show that young firms have a significantly higher leverage and issue longer-maturity debt than seasoned companies. As predicted by the model, these patterns are stronger in high set-up cost industries and for firms with lower profitability. Last, we show that, following an exogenous shock that reduces banks' supply of long-term loans, young firms in high set-up cost industries grow significantly less.

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Citation

Derrien, F, J MESONNIER and G Vuillemey (2020), ‘DP14512 Set-up Costs and the Financing of Young Firms‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 14512. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp14512