The Role of Banks in SME Finance

Lars Norden

ERIM Inaugural Address Series Research in Management from Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Abstract: __Abstract__ Banks play a crucial role for the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs represent a large fraction of all firms in many economies and contribute significantly to employment and growth. But, SMEs are more informationally opaque, more risky, more financially constrained, and more bank-dependent than large firms, which creates serious challenges in SME finance. In this inaugural address, I focus on lending technologies to cope with key challenges in SME finance. I present evidence from two recent empirical studies. The first conclusion is that relationship lending works. Applying meta-analysis in a cross-country context, we show that, on average, borrowers benefit from relationship lending. SMEs obtain more credit and/or lower loan rates under relationship lending. Furthermore, bank competition makes benefits for borrowers more likely. The second conclusion is that trade credit has limited scope to replace bank debt when the latter is subject to a shock. SMEs in Europe have countered a shock to their bank debt to some extent with trade credit. However, substitution has become increasingly difficult during the financial crisis and was only possible for a subset of firms: the ones with better credit quality and intermediate financial constraints. Overall, a comprehensive understanding of lending technologies such as relationship lending and trade credit is critical for lenders, borrowers, and policymakers to ensure the proper functioning of SME finance.

Keywords: Banks; SME Finance; Bank Lending; Banking; Finance; Credit; Lending Technology; Relationship Lending; Trade Credit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E22 G21 G24 L11 L25 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 54
Date: 2015-02-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cfn and nep-ent
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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