We would like to thank Akos Valentinyi and Mark Schaffer for their advice on various stages of this research project. We also would like to thank our col­ leagues at the Department of Economics of the University of Milan - Bicocca for their advice and support. This book is the result of a long term project financed by various research grants: in particular the Phare-Ace programme (Project P-96-6151-R) and a research grant from the Italian Ministry of Education under the young researchers scheme. Milan, March 2005 Emilio Colombo Luca Stanca Contents Introduction 1 Financial market imperfections and corporate decisions: theory and evidence 7 2. 1 Introduction 7 2. 2 Financial market imperfections, investment and cycles 9 2. 2. 1 The Stiglitz view 9 2. 2. 2 Agency costs and macroeconomic fluctuations 15 2. 2. 3 Assessing the differences 18 2. 2. 4 Further developments 20 2. 2. 5 Empirical evidence 22 2. 3 Financial market imperfections and corporate capital structure 24 2. 3. 1 Asymmetric information and capital structure choice . . 25 2. 3. 2 Agency costs and capital structure choice 30 2. 3. 3 Empirical evidence 32 The transformation of the Hungarian financial system 35 3. 1 Introduction 35 3. 2 Macroeconomic background 36 3. 3 Liberalisation, privatisation and financial development 44 3. 3. 1 Banking and credit 45 3. 3. 2 Equity market 48 3. 3. 3 Foreign direct investment 49 3. 4 Financial sector reform 50 3. 4.