The Journal of Accounting and Management, Vol 4, No 3 (2014)

Abstract

This paper explores the problems experienced by the firms from the analyzed CEE countries regarding the access to finance under the impact of the financial crisis. The easy access to finance is a vital problem for the firms because it affects their development but also their survival. Also, the existence and activity of the firms appears in an interdependent relationship with the economic situation of the country in which they operate. So, if the economy of the country is affected by the financial crisis then this interdependent relationship leads to problems related to firms financing.

Through this paper we analyze 245 firms from seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe member of the European Union (Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Hungary). Using an econometric model we observe the changes that appear in the financing decision of these firms under the impact of the financial crisis.

The results show that the current financial crisis had a significant influence on the financing decision of the analyzed firms causing significant changes of their level of indebtedness, especially a decrease.