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The innovation debt penalty: cost of debt, loan default, and the effects of a public loan guarantee on high-tech firms

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  • Cowling, Marc
  • Ughetto, Elisa
  • Lee, Neil

Abstract

High-technology firms per se are perceived to be more risky than other, more conventional, firms. It follows that financial institutions will take this into account when designing loan contracts, and that this will manifest itself in more costly debt. In this paper we empirically test whether the provision of a government loan guarantee fundamentally changes the way lenders price debt to high-tech firms. Further, we also examine whether there are differential loan price effects of a public guarantee depending on the nature of the firms themselves and the nature of the economic and innovation environment that surrounds them. Using a large UK dataset of 29,266 guarantee backed loans we find that there is a high-tech risk premium which is justified by higher default, but, in general, that this premium is altered significantly when a public guarantee is provided for all firms. Further, all these loan price effects differ on precise spatial economic and innovation attributes.

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  • Cowling, Marc & Ughetto, Elisa & Lee, Neil, 2018. "The innovation debt penalty: cost of debt, loan default, and the effects of a public loan guarantee on high-tech firms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 81337, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:81337
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rama Iyer, Subramanian & Sankaran, Harikumar & Walsh, Steve T., 2020. "Influence of Director Expertise on Capital Structure and Cash Holdings in High-Tech Firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Salvatore Di Novo & Giorgio Fazio & Jonathan Sapsed & Josh Siepel, 2022. "Starving the golden goose? Access to finance for innovators in the creative industries," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 46(2), pages 345-386, June.
    4. Quoc Hoang Thai & Khuong Ngoc Mai, 2024. "Do Entrepreneurial Financial Support and Entrepreneurial Culture Stimulate New Venture Performance through Organizational Creativity and Firm Innovation? Empirical Findings from Ho Chi Minh City Regio," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-35, June.
    5. Na Ta & Bo Gao, 2022. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Applying blockchain technology in the corporate bond model for default risk assessment under the marketization principle," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 879-890, December.
    6. Hyonok Kim & Yukihiro Yasuda, 2019. "Accounting information quality and guaranteed loans: evidence from Japanese SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 1033-1050, December.
    7. Yang, Zhenbing & Chen, Zhuo & Shi, Qi & Yan, Bing, 2021. "Does outward foreign direct investment increase debt ratio? Firm-level evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-12.
    8. Barros, Victor & Verga Matos, Pedro & Miranda Sarmento, Joaquim & Rino Vieira, Pedro, 2023. "High-tech firms: Dividend policy in a context of sustainability and technological change," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    9. Li, Bin & Liang, Yilan & Shahab, Yasir & Gull, Ammar Ali & Ashraf, Naeem, 2022. "Parent-subsidiary dispersion, cost of debt and debt default: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    10. Junhai Ma & Lijiao Gong & Jie Fan, 2022. "Pricing strategy and coordination of small‐ to medium‐sized enterprises based on bank‐insurance cooperative financing," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3915-3930, December.
    11. David Aristei & Gabriele Angori, 2022. "Heterogeneity and state dependence in firms’ access to bank credit," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 47-78, June.
    12. Christian Haas & Karol Kempa, 2023. "Low-Carbon Investment and Credit Rationing," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 109-145, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    cost of debt; high-tech firms; public loan guarantee scheme; loan default;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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