Indústrias transformadoras e estrutura de capital das PME

This study investigates the effect of the manufacturing industries and the characteristics of the companies on the capital structure of 14,254 Portuguese SMEs. The results suggest that the characteristics of industrial SMEs have different relevance in the way firms finance themselves and, for the most part, are more consistent with the pecking order theory, placing short-term debt next to equity. This should merit the attention of managers, given that short-term debt carries higher financial charges. Considering each of the industries separately, the empirical evidence also confers more consistency to the pecking order theory. The observed effect on the manufacturing industries reveals that the capital structure of the companies concerned cannot be explained solely by the characteristics of the companies, but also by the industry in which they are inserted.