This research studies the effect of family control on the debt maturity structure of private firms. It uses a sample of unlisted Spanish firms for the period 2004–2013. Our results indicate that family firms get better access to long-term debt, even when exercising control by pyramid structures. However, the presence of a second largest family shareholder has a negative effect on debt maturity. Moreover, in line with previous studies, we find that firms use more long-term debt when they have fewer growth opportunities, higher asset maturity and are more leveraged.

This work analyses the effect of accruals quality in the access of firms to bank debt in a panel data of SME Spanish firms. The results show a positive association between accruals quality and bank debt, even when controlling for other determinants of bank debt and for possible endogeneity between bank debt and accruals quality, which suggests that higher precision of earnings reduces information asymmetries with banks and favors the access of firms to bank loans.