We examine the factors that influence nonfinancial firms’ choice of issuing standard corporate bonds vis-à-vis contracting structured finance, in the form of project finance or asset securitization arrangements. Using a data set of deals closed by 4,700 European borrowers between 2000 and 2016, we find that informational frictions and issuance costs affect public firms’ borrowing source choices. Findings suggest that borrowers choose structured finance when they are relatively smaller, less profitable, have lower asset tangibility, and seek long-term financing. Our findings also document that borrowers resorting to asset securitization tend to have larger growth opportunity sets. Borrowers resorting to project finance are less creditworthy than corporate bond issuers and, on average, asset securitization deals have an 87.6 basis points borrowing cost advantage over corporate bond deals for switchers.

This study examines the relationships between socio-demographic factors, purchase frequency, internet expertise, and unethical return behavior in apparel e-commerce, with a particular focus on the act of wardrobing—wearing and then returning used apparel. The research involved a survey of 1026 online apparel consumers from Portugal and the Czech Republic. The results show that frequent buyers, internet-savvy users, women and younger e-consumers report more satisfactory return experiences. However, several e-consumers engage in wardrobe shopping, with higher rates observed among males, internet-savvy users and youth. There are differences between the countries studied: in the Czech sample, men and advanced internet users are more likely to engage in wardrobing, while in the Portuguese sample, it is more prevalent among younger e-consumers. The results also document that, overall, men are seven times more likely to practice unethical return, while increasing age decreases the likelihood. The originality of the study lies in its approach and findings, which contribute to the understanding of post-purchase behavior and moral hazards in e-commerce and highlight the need for retailers to balance return policies that prevent abuse while maintaining customer satisfaction. Recommendations are made for improving loyalty programs and personalizing the e-shopping experience to minimize returns and promote ethical consumer behavior. Further research is suggested to develop these findings and improve return management in apparel e-commerce.

The paper examines theoretically and explores empirically the problem of the banking firm's capital structure (voluntary) decisions using a unique dataset gathered through a survey conducted to a sample of 89.5 percent of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Portuguese banks in office during the 1989-1998 period. Findings support the notion that Portuguese banks' debt/equity choice do matter. They also indicate that surveyed CEOs show a relative preference for the trade-off capital structure policy model. Survey results are also congruent with a number of theoretical propositions typically associated with the determinants of debt-equity choice of non-financial firms. Specifically, evidence supports that factors associated with the role of debt and non-debt tax shields at the bank level, as well as agency and governance conflicts and asymmetric information considerations are relevant for capital structure managerial decision-making of Portuguese banks. Overall, findings provide support to the notion that the design and the adjustment of the firm's financial structure may be explained within the framework of both theoretical and empirically motivated determinants established in corporate capital structure literature.

Using a unique multi-wave dataset from nationally representative surveys in Portugal (2015, 2020, and 2023), this study extends the household finance literature by examining the mechanisms linking financial literacy to capital market participation. We propose and test a moderated mediation framework, arguing that the relationship is channeled through the mediating roles of financial resilience and self-efficacy and is contingent upon sociodemographic moderators. Our findings reveal a decline in average financial knowledge between 2015 and 2020/23, with persistent gaps across socioeconomic groups. Empirical results from count, logit, and ordered logit models provide strong evidence for partial mediation; financial literacy significantly enhances a household’s financial resilience, which in turn is a strong positive predictor of participation in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Furthermore, we find that perceived financial knowledge is a more powerful direct driver of participation than objective knowledge. Crucially, these pathways are powerfully moderated by income and education, highlighting that socioeconomic status is a fundamental boundary condition for converting knowledge into investment behavior. The results challenge simplistic direct-effects models and suggest that policy initiatives aimed at boosting market participation, such as the Portuguese National Plan for Financial Education, must look beyond knowledge dissemination to also foster financial resilience, self-efficacy, and address structural inequalities.

Building on the biological concept of a life cycle, the paper analyzes the issue of the strategic financing choice of firms through the lens of the life cycle framework. Using data for the 1994-2003 period, from a sample of Iberian firms the paper investigates 379 start-ups (789 firm year observations) and 2 325 firms (19 647 firm year observations) distributed by the other three phases of the life cycle model adopted for the study. Univariate results document that the debt ratio increases over the life cycle of firms. This empirical finding is consistent with the conjecture that firms tend to adopt specific financing strategies as they progress along the phases of their life cycles. We found evidence that can be interpreted as consistent with a pecking order model of financing. Findings also indicate that the theory that short-term debt may have a role in firm strategic financing choice. A significant industry effect for all variables included in the analysis was found as well. Overall, findings provide support to the notion that the design of financing strategy is influenced, among other factors, by asymmetric information considerations, and growth opportunities.

This paper estimates the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economic and financial performance of the Portuguese mainland hotel industry. For that purpose, we implement a novel empirical approach to gauge the impact of the pandemic during the 2020–2021 period in terms of the industry's aggregated operating revenues, net total assets, net total debt, generated cash flow, and financial slack. To that end, we derive and estimate a sustainable growth model to project the 2020 and 2021 ‘Covid-free’ aggregated financial statements of a representative Portuguese mainland hotel industry sample. The impact of the Covid pandemic is measured by the difference between the ‘Covid-free’ financial statements and the historical data drawn from the Orbis and Sabi databases. An MC simulation with bootstrapping indicates that the deviations of the deterministic from the stochastic estimates for major indicators vary between 0.5 and 5.5%. The deterministic operating cash flow estimate lies within plus or minus two standard deviations from the mean interval of the operating cash flow distribution. Based on this distribution, we estimate the downside risk, measured by cash flow at risk, at 1294 million euros. Overall findings shed some light on the economic and financial repercussions of extreme events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, providing us with a better understanding of how to design public policies and business strategies to recover from such an impact.