Corporate Governance, Gender and Cost of Debt in Argentinean SMEs

DIEGO SANTOLÍQUIDO; ANAHÍ BRIOZZO; DIANA ALBANESE

Buenos Aires

Conferencia; 2015 World Finance Conference; 2015

The aim of this paper is twofold. In first place, we study the characteristics of the corporate governance (CG) of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are issuers of corporate bonds in Argentinean Securitites Exchange markets. Second, we analyze the relation between GC characteristics, gender, and the cost of debt issues. We find that internal CG mechanisms, such as ownership concentration, outside board members, and a female auditor significantly affect the cost of debt. Morever, economics groups, which are an informal institution related to CG, also have a relevant effect.