“…Such reasons lead to asymmetry of information problems, like adverse selection and moral hazard (Jensen and Meckling, ; Stiglitz and Weiss, ), that might discourage external investors, whose assessment of the expected returns is less reliable than the internal assessment (Ughetto, ; Czarnitzki and Hottenrott, ; Takalo and Tanayama, ; Czarnitzki et al ., ). Moreover, the intangible nature of R&D hinders the use of collateral by innovative firms to secure their borrowing (Bester, ; Berger and Udell, ; Hubbard, ; Močnik, ; Ughetto, ).…”