Setup Costs and the Financing of Young Firms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Derrlen, Francols; Mesonnler, Jean-Stephane; Vulllemey, Guillaume
• 署名单位: Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) Paris; European Central Bank; Bank of France; Institut d'Etudes Politiques Paris (Sciences Po); Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2023.03846
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: young firms; capital structure; setup costs; leverage; Debt maturity

摘要

Firm births are key drivers of employment growth, productivity gains, and creative destruction. We show that setup costs create sizable financial constraints for new firms. When firms face high setup costs, they can only be established by leveraging up and lengthening debt maturity. We empirically confirm these predictions in a large sample of young French firms. Leverage is higher and debt maturity is longer in industries with high setup costs. Last, we show that following an exogenous shock that reduces banks' supply of long-term loans, there is relatively lower firm creation in manufacturing industries with high setup costs.