TRADE-OFF THEORY VERSUS PECKING ORDER THEORY: CAPITAL STRUCTURE DECISIONS IN A PERIPHERAL REGION OF PORTUGAL

This paper seeks to analyse whether the capital structure decisions of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are closer to the assumptions of Trade-Off Theory or to those of Pecking Order Theory. We use a sample of SMEs located in the interior region of Portugal, using the LSDVC dynamic estimator as method of estimation, the empirical evidence obtained allows us to conclude that the most profitable and oldest SMEs resort less to debt, which...