SIZE, CAPITAL STRUCTURE, FIRM PERFORMANCE AND INDUSTRY SECTOR: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE BEFORE AND AFTER THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the capital structure of Greek firms is influenced by their size, different variables and the sector they are in. The study includes the period before and after the economic crisis, investigating the effect of the crisis on capital structure. The analysis tries to identify also differences in the behavior of small and medium sized firms vs. large firms in the most important exporting industrial sectors in Greece with respect to their capital structure and performance. Design/Methodology/Approach: Multivariate regression models will be used, along with descriptive statistics, on panel data, to investigate the significant factors affecting capital structure and performance of Greek firms, with size and industry sectors acting as control variables. Data are collected from the data base of ICAP Hellas, a private research and data base firm, based on published financial statements of firms. The random sample will include 200 publicly listed and non listed, small and medium size and large sized firms from major export oriented industry sectors, based on their population distribution, for the time period 2000-2010, in order to include before and after economic crises data.