Analysis of ict companies from a financial perspective. Evidence for software and video games smes

Abstract

This work seeks to evaluate the financing decisions of two specific subsectors of the information and communication technologies (ict) segment: video games development (vg) and software and computer services (scs). The data used includes 80 Argentinian companies surveyed during 2017. Results show that the main financing source at the different stages of the business cycle is the company’s own funds for all the businesses in the sample. However, the participation of these funds is reduced as companies go through the start-up and growth stages. In addition, it is found that the typology of external sources with which they replace their own financing differs according to the subsector. In the start-up stage, scs companies substitute their own funds for public subsidies, unlike vg companies, which use financing from private lenders. In the growth stage, scs companies use bank financing to a greater extent, while vg companies request public subsidies.