The irrelevance of organisational boundaries of owner-managed firms

Empirical researchers and analysts of small or owner-managed businesses generally behave as if the selected organisational form and the consequent legal and accounting boundaries of owner-managed firms are meaningful. This paper discusses selected aspects of this notion, and provides some empirical evidence concerning loan securities, and treatments of debts and assets, which justify rejecting the relevance of the organisational types and implied boundaries in many contexts relating to owner-managed firms. These include analyses employing traditional accounting disclosures and studies that view the firm as defined by some formal organisational structure. Emphasis is on the treatment and effects of private debts and assets.