The impact of industry-specific determinants on the capital structure of Dutch SMEs.

In this thesis, I examine the impact of industry-specific determinants on the capital structure of Dutch SMEs. The sample consists of 499 manufacturing firms that are divided into different industries based on the two-digit NACE codes. The study uses multilevel modelling to account for the variance between the nested data. The variables are included in a hierarchical matter. Started with an empty model, where no independent variables are included to see the variation between the different levels. Next, the firm-specific variables are included and at last, the industry-specific variables are separately included. Only 5% of the variation in debt is accounted by the industry-level. The results show that there is a weak link between the industry-specific determinants and the capital structure of Dutch SMEs.