"Fremdkapital Kapitalstruktur Recht Aktienmarkt Finanzsektor Subvention Industriestaaten Entwicklungsländer." . . "Lån" . . "The World Bank. Policy Research Department. Finance and Private Sector Development Division" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "November 1996 Do firms in developing countries use less long term debt than similar firms in industrial countries? This paper investigates the role of institutional factors in explaining firms' choice of debt maturity in a sample of 30 countries during 1980-91. Demirguc-Kunt and Maksimovic examine the maturity of firm debt in 30 countries during the period 1980-91. They find systematic differences in the use of long-term debt between industrial and developing countries and between small and large firms. In industrial countries, firms have more long-term debt and a greater proportion of their total debt is held as long-term debt. Large firms have more long-term debt, as a proportion of total assets and debt, than smaller firms do. The authors try to explain the variations in debt composition by differences in the effectiveness of legal systems, the development of stock markets and the banking sector, the level of government subsidies, and firm characteristics. In countries with an effective legal system, both large and small firms have more long-term debt relative to assets and their debt is of longer maturity. Both large and small firms in countries with a tradition of common law use less long-term debt, relative to their assets, than do firms in countries with a tradition of civil law. Large firms in common law countries also use less short-term debt. In countries with active stock markets, large firms have more long-term debt and debt of longer maturity. Neither the level of activity nor the size of the market is correlated with financing choices of small firms. By contrast, in countries with large banking sectors, small firms have less short-term debt and their debt is of longer maturity. Variation in the size of the banking sector does not have a corresponding correlation with the capital structures of large firms. Government subsidies to industry increase long-term debt levels of both small and large firms. For all firms, inflation is associated with less use of long-term debt. The authors also find evidence of maturity-matching for both large and small firms. This paper--a product of the Finance and Private Sector Development Division, Policy Research Department--is part of a larger effort in the department to understand the impact of institutional constraints on firms' financing choices. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project Term Finance: Theory and Evidence (RPO 679-62)."@en . . . . . "Institutions, financial markets, and firms' choice of debt maturity" . "Institutions, financial markets, and firms' choice of debt maturity"@en . "Institutions, financial markets, and firms' choice of debt mturity" . . . . . . . . "Institutions, Financial Markets, and Firms' Choice of Debt Maturity" . "Institutions, Financial Markets, and Firms' Choice of Debt Maturity"@en . "Financieringsvormen." . . "Internationale financiën." . . "Developing countries." . . . . "1980-1991." . . "Corporate debt Developing countries." . . "Corporate debt." . . "World Bank Policy Research Dept Finance and Private Sector Development Division." . .