The paper contributes to the literature that studies multinational companies, by analyzing relatively unexplored aspects, such as financial structure and relationships with banks. To this end, Italian multinational companies are compared with a sample of similar, but not internationalized, companies by exploiting a granular dataset, which includes information at firm-bank level.
Compared with other companies, multinational firms are characterized by a higher degree of indebtedness and a higher ratio of financial debt. They maintain relationships with a greater number of banks and benefit from more favorable borrowing costs. Finally, multinational companies have more trade credits and debts with foreign firms belonging to the same group.
Published in: Journal of Multinational Financial Management, v. 66, Article 100762
