Essays on Capital Structure and Human Capital.

Summary This thesis consists of three chapters and examines the organizational structure of the firm at a different stage of its life cycle: start-up, growth, and large firm. The first chapter examines the underlying reasons for differences in funding between male and female entrepreneurs in the context of the venture capital industry. This chapter highlights the effects of gender stereotypes that hinder the growth of start-ups founded by gender minority entrepreneurs. In this context, the human capital of entrepreneurs mitigates investor stereotypes to some extent. The second chapter describes the conditions under which firms choose to grow by buying an existing firm rather than expanding by leveraging human capital resources. The third chapter focuses on large groups of firms. This chapter shows that investors are not always aware of the limitations of the corporate structure and miss predictive information revealed at another level of the group.