The aim of this paper is to study the laws of exponential functionals of the processes X=(Xs)s≥0 with independent increments, namely
It=∫t0exp(−Xs)ds,t≥0,
and also
I∞=∫∞0exp(−Xs)ds.
Under suitable conditions, the integro-differential equations for the density of It and I∞ are derived. Sufficient conditions are derived for the existence of a smooth density of the laws of these functionals with respect to the Lebesgue measure. In the particular case of Lévy processes these equations can be simplified and, in a number of cases, solved explicitly.