Does access to credit improve productivity? Evidence from Bulgaria1

Although it is widely accepted that financial development is associated with higher growth, the evidence on the channels through which credit affects growth at the microeconomic level is scant. Using data from a cross‐section of Bulgarian firms, we estimate the impact of access to credit, as proxied by indicators of whether firms have access to a credit line or overdraft facility, on productivity. To overcome potential omitted variable bias of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimates, we use information on firms’ past growth to instrument for access to credit. We find credit to be positively and strongly associated with TFP. These results are robust to a wide range of robustness checks.     

Access to finance,foreign ownership and foreign takeovers in Germany

With this article we present the first microeconometric analysis of the impact of a foreign acquisition on the target firm’s access to finance. By using a large database of German firms, we furthermore investigate for the first time the link between foreign ownership and access to finance in Germany, one of the world's leading target countries for FDI. We use newly available comprehensive panel data that we constructed from information collected by the German statistical offices and from credit rating scores supplied by the leading German credit rating agency. We find foreign-owned firms in German manufacturing on average to show slightly more financing restrictions than domestically owned enterprises, but this very small difference diminishes once unobserved heterogeneity is taken into account. We further demonstrate that one reason for this finding is the preference of foreign investors for targets with relatively low credit-worthiness. Although the likelihood of a foreign acquisition appears to be correlated with credit rating, there is no impact of foreign takeovers on the credit constraints of the target firms ex post and therefore no support for the hypothesis that foreign takeovers ease financial frictions.     

Information and credit access: using bankruptcy as a signal

Legally, a bankruptcy flag can appear on an individual's credit report for up to 10 years after the filing. The flag affects an individual's credit score, and in turn, an individual's access to credit. In this article, we investigate how the bankruptcy flag affects access to credit along three dimensions–loan acceptance, the price of the loan as is determined by the interest rate, and the amount of credit the household receives. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Survey of Consumer Finances, we estimate a series of two-stage models corrected for sample selection and adjusted to account for the household's level of creditworthiness. We find that the bankruptcy flag increases the probability of being denied access to a loan. The flag also increases interest rates for unsecured loans and lowers the credit limits available to households. The findings have important implications with respect to current bankruptcy code and the impact that information, such as the bankruptcy flag, can have on the efficiency of the credit markets.     

金融科技与中小微企业信贷获取——基于新三板企业的实证研究

中小微企业融资难、融资贵是世界性难题,银行信贷融资是其外部融资的重要来源,但目前过低的融资规模制约了其缓解融资难的有效发挥,如何提升中小微企业的银行信贷融资成为学术界的研究难点。金融科技的迅猛发展是否对解决该难点有所助益？本文以2011—2020年新三板企业为样本对该问题进行考察,研究发现：(1)金融科技能显著提升中小微企业信贷资源获取,该结论在考虑内生性和稳健性检验后依然成立;(2)机制分析表明,金融科技能够通过降低信息不对称、促进商业信用融资以及加剧银行业竞争等渠道显著促进中小微企业的信贷获取;(3)异质性分析表明,金融科技对信贷获取的促进作用在货币政策紧缩时期、信用环境较差地区、中西部地区、融资约束较高、产权性质为非国有以及抵押能力较弱的企业中表现得更加明显;(4)进一步研究表明,金融科技能够降低借贷成本;相对于短信贷期限结构企业,金融科技对于长信贷期限结构企业的正向影响更为明显。本文的研究结论支持了金融科技的长尾效应和普惠性,也为中小微企业获取更多信贷资源,缓解融资难题提供了有效路径。     

Rural development in the digital age: Does information and communication technology adoption contribute to credit access and income growth in rural China?

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays an important role in rural livelihoods and household well-being. Therefore, this study examines the impact of ICT adoption on farmers' decisions to access credit and the joint effects of ICT adoption and access to credit on household income using 2016 China Labour-force Dynamics Survey data. Both recursive bivariate probit model and a selectivity-corrected ordinary least square regression model are employed for the analysis. The results show that ICT adoption increases the probability of access to credit by 12.8% in rural China and empowers rural women and farm households in relatively less-developed regions to access credit. ICT adoption and access to credit affect household income differently. ICT adoption significantly increases household income, while access to credit significantly reduces it, primarily because farmers do not use the acquired credit to invest in income-generating farm and off-farm business activities. ICT adoption has the largest positive impact on household income at the highest 90th quantile. Our findings suggest that improving rural ICT infrastructure to enhance farmers' ICT adoption and developing ICT-based financial products to enable households to access sufficient funds can improve rural household welfare.     

Do liquidity constraints generate excess sensitivity in consumption? New evidence from a sample of post-bankruptcy households

Previous work linking liquidity constraints to excessive consumption sensitivity have used household level information on wealth and assets to split the sample into households that are likely to be constrained from those with access to credit and liquidity. In this paper, we use the sample splitting methods of previous authors but refine the criteria by using direct information on whether the household filed for bankruptcy in the last 10 years. Legally, a flag can appear on a bankruptcy filer’s credit report for up to 10 years after bankruptcy. This bankruptcy flag affects an individual’s credit score, and therefore the individual’s access to credit, which may make post-bankruptcy consumers liquidity constrained. Our results indicate that post-bankruptcy consumers exhibit excess sensitivity likely due to the bankruptcy flag. Consistency checks confirm that the source of sensitivity is due to liquidity constraints and not other observationally equivalent behavior.     

Lending technologies,banking relationships,and firms’ access to credit in Italy: the role of firm size

This paper analyses the role of lending technologies and banking relationships on firms’ credit access in Italy. Using EFIGE firm-level data, we show that the depth and strength of firm–bank relationships have heterogeneous effects on credit demand and rationing probabilities depending on the size of the borrower. Multiple banking relationships alleviate financial constraints for small firms, while borrowing from a large number of lenders hinders access to credit for large companies. Small and medium-sized enterprises with a higher share of debt with the main bank have a lower probability of being credit denied, as debt concentration contributes to overcome the opacity problems typical of the SMEs. Long-lasting relationships, by reducing information asymmetries, significantly improve access to credit for small and large firms. Conversely, we find that medium-sized enterprises are more exposed to financing constraints as relationship duration increases, due to possible lock-in effects. Finally, firms maintaining banking relationships based on transactional technologies are more likely to be credit denied, while the use of relationship lending technologies improves credit availability for both small and large enterprises.     

互联网使用能否提升农户信贷获得水平*——基于CFPS面板数据的经验研究

基于2014—2018年中国家庭追踪调查三期面板数据，运用联合估计的条件混合处理（CMP）模型和工具变量模型，本文分析了互联网使用对农户信贷获得水平的影响效应，并采用修正样本自选择偏差的双稳健IPWRA模型进行了稳健性检验。研究发现：互联网使用对农户信贷获得水平具有显著正向影响，既可以提升农户信贷的可得性，也可以提高农户的信贷规模。就不同贷款渠道而言，互联网使用同时显著提高了农户正规和非正规信贷获得水平。异质性分析表明，互联网使用对于处于中年、兼业程度大以及中西部地区的农户信贷获得水平促进作用更大；机制分析表明，互联网使用主要通过信息搜寻、社会互动以及收入增长三种效应来提升农户信贷获得水平。因此，贯彻落实“互联网+”政策，提升农村地区的互联网覆盖率，是缓解农户融资难和决胜脱贫攻坚战役的重要政策手段。     

Access to credit and investment decisions of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises in China

Financial constraints are common in developing countries where financial systems are underdeveloped. In China, firms report that access to finance is the most important obstacle in the business environment. This is related to firms that fail to gain access to the credit market. We examine the likelihood of gaining access to credit by firms, and find that size and exporting appear to be the key characteristics. Credit constraints are significant for investment decisions. Together with size, access to credit is among the firm characteristics with the greatest impact on the likelihood to invest.     

Democracy favors access to credit of firms

Access to credit is one of the main obstacles for the growth of firms. We test the hypothesis that democracy exerts an impact on access to credit. We perform regressions at the firm-level on a large dataset of 46,000 firms in 108 countries. We find evidence of a negative relationship between democracy and credit constraints for firms. We further establish that democracy contributes to reduce borrower discouragement and leads to more bank loan approval decisions. Our key finding is therefore that democracy favors firms' access to credit. Our work contributes to the debate on the impact of democracy on economic development by considering one firm-level channel of transmission.     

Impact of microcredit on borrowers’ expenditures: a fuzzy regression discontinuity design approach

This article uses the data from 69 villages in Bangladesh to estimate the effect of participation in microcredit programmes on household expenditures. A regression discontinuity design (RDD) is used to identify the credit effect. Our results show heterogeneous treatment effect on different types of expenditures. We show that access to credit reduces per capita expenditure on durable goods such as kitchen equipment, furniture, repair and maintenance of house and increases the expenditure on per school-going child. We also show insignificant impact of access to credit on non-durable goods and health care, recreation and gifts. Interestingly, our results indicate a positive impact of microcredit on village-level expenditures.     

Financial constraints and unemployment equilibrium

The aim of this paper is to show that a robust determination of unemployment equilibria can be based on the integration of credit rationing into a general equilibrium model. We first review some of the Keynesian macroeconomic models. We show that the problems bequeathed by Keynes’ legacy are only partially solved by the strand of the new Keynesian economics based on market imperfections and endogenous rigidities. In order to overcome these problems we refer to credit rationing. In particular, we build a simple general equilibrium model in which prices are–in principle–perfectly flexible and credit rationing implies unemployment equilibria.     

A finite-life private-information theory of unsecured consumer debt

We present a theory of unsecured consumer debt that does not rely on utility costs of default or on enforcement mechanisms that arise in repeated-interaction settings. The theory is based on private information about a person's type and on a person's incentive to signal his type to entities other than creditors. Specifically, debtors signal their low-risk status to insurers by avoiding default in credit markets. The signal is credible because in equilibrium people who repay are more likely to be the low-risk type and so receive better insurance terms. We explore two different mechanisms through which repayment behavior in the credit market can be positively correlated with low-risk status in the insurance market. Our theory is motivated in part by some facts regarding the role of credit scores in consumer credit and auto insurance markets.     

Access to credit and informality among micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia

This paper examines the determinants of Micro and Small and Enterprises (MSEs) access to credit in Ethiopia using detailed firm‐level data collected in 2003. Its basic purpose is to identify the various attributes of a firm that determine its access to credit with an emphasis on the role of firm formality. We find that informal firms are more credit constrained compared to formal firms. A firm’s location, membership of a business association and maintaining an accounting record are found to be important determinants of access to credit. Further, we find firms whose owners have vocational training are more credit constrained than those who are not, as are firms that are exclusively male owned. There is no systematic relation between access to credit and a firm’s age, size and the sector in which it operates. The paper concludes with possible policy interventions designed to improve access to credit for MSEs in Ethiopia.     

Going digital: Credit effects of land registry computerization in India

By improving access, without altering the underlying information, computerization of land registration provides a unique case to test for credit supply effects of improved land administration that have often been elusive in the literature. We exploit the variation in the timing of the shift from manual to digital operation of Andhra Pradesh's 387 subregistry offices during the state-wide rollout of this intervention between 1999 and 2005. Administrative data on credit disbursed and registered land transactions from 1995 to 2007 point to significant, though quantitatively modest, increases in credit access in urban but not rural areas. Institutional factors allow us to explain these results.     

融资约束与企业出口行为:基于工业企业数据的经验研究

采用2000—2007年的3万多家工业企业数据,本文构造了包括内源融资、商业信贷以及企业信用特征等变量的企业融资约束综合指标。基于Heckman选择模型的经验研究表明,企业融资状况的改善不仅能提高企业出口的概率,而且对其出口规模也有重要影响。研究还发现融资状况改善对外资企业出口影响最显著;与国有企业相比,民营企业虽受到更严重的融资约束,但其出口表现并未更差。此外,融资状况改善对那些高外源融资依赖度行业的企业出口具有更明显的促进作用。     

Inequality and outside options in common-property resource use

Using a dynamic intergenerational game, this paper analyzes the effects of inequality among resource users and their access to outside markets and credit on cooperative use of a local commons. The study finds that, depending on the agents' harvest sharing rule, the conditions under which homogeneous agents can cooperate in equilibrium may not be sufficient for cooperation when agents differ in harvesting productivity. The resource users' access to outside markets or credit may have a negative effect on efficient local resource management.     

Industrial districts and financial constraints to innovation

Informational frictions between borrowers and lenders are particularly acute for innovative firms undertaking high‐risk projects. As a consequence, banks may end up denying credit to them. However, the literature on relationship finance predicts that a closer relationship between credit suppliers and obligors is deemed to alleviate information asymmetries, hence preventing credit rationing from occurring. The question of whether such situations also apply to innovative firms has so far remained relatively unexplored. Using a cross‐section of Italian manufacturing firms, I find that credit constraints appear to be more severe for firms undertaking innovative activities, although such effects are weaker when measures of R&D intensity are included. The empirical analysis also shows that firms located in an industrial district have easier access to external finance. If I move to consider firms engaged in substantial R&D activities located in a district, results suggest that they can benefit from better financial conditions.     

How credit-constrained are firms in Turkey? A survey-based analysis

We study the factors related to the financing of firms in Turkey, using the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS). Based on the survey responses of the firms, we calculate the ratio of credit-constrained firms in Turkey and run a logistic regression to investigate the factors explaining the firms’ access to credit. Estimation results show that the likelihood of having access to credit increases with the firm size. Firms are more likely to access credit if they are being independently audited or they are exporters, and they are less likely to access credit if they have overdue payments.     

中国不确定性信贷市场中的贷款供求微观机理分析——一个基于主观概率决策的信贷市场非均衡模型

文章立足于中国垄断竞争型的信贷市场,探讨了不确定性条件下贷款需求与贷款供给之间的微观作用机理。与新凯恩斯主义以信息不对称假设为基础的研究方法不同,文章以借贷双方根据对项目成功概率的主观判断进行贷款供求决策为基本假设,建立了一个有利于解释中国现实信贷市场运作机制的模型。结果显示,在不同的参数范围内,贷款供求之间可能出现完全配给、贷款供给限制、贷款需求限制和借贷宽松等四个区域。这种分析方法也有利于辨别货币供给的内外生性问题。