A firm can raise up to $700 million for investment from a mixture of debt, preferred stock and retained equity. Above $700 million, the firm must issue new common stock. Assuming that debt costs and preferred stock costs remain unchanged, the marginal cost of capital for amounts up to $700 million will be ____ the marginal cost of capital for amounts over $700 million.

a. less than
		b. equal to
		c. greater than
		d. cannot be determined from the information given