The Modigliani and Miller theories are based on several unrealistic assumption about debt financing. In reality, there are costs, taxes, and other factors associated with debt financing. These costs or effects have led to several theories that explain the impact of these factors on the capital structure of a firm. Based on your understanding of the trade-off theory, what kind of firms are likely to use more leverage? Firms with a higher proportion of variable-versus-fixed costs Firms with a higher proportion of fixed-versus-variable costs Based on your understanding of the capital structure theories, identify the best option for the missing part of the statement. Several dominant theories try to explain why financial managers make the capital structure decisions that they do. The following statement describes one such theory. Consider this case: The firm's debt-equity decision finds the optimal balance between the interest tax shield benefits of debt financing and the costs of financial distress associated with issuing debt. Identify which of the two theories is described by the statement. Trade-off theory Pecking-order hypothesis