The article looks at how Malaysian companies managed their money before a financial crisis in the 1990s. They studied data from over 370 companies to see how they used bank loans, their own money, and who owned the companies. The researchers found that banks giving more loans made companies borrow more. When one person or group owned a lot of a company, it helped keep managers in line. Foreign owners also helped companies spend money wisely. But when Malaysians owned a lot of a company, it didn't really help. Companies that borrowed a lot of money ended up spending too much before the crisis hit. This made the crisis worse for Malaysian companies.