This paper examines the impact of bank efficiency on access to credit. We test hypothesis that higher efficiency, meaning a better ability banks operate at lower costs, favors credit for firms. To this end, we perform cross-country analysis with firm-level data and bank-level compute using sample about 54,000 firms from 76 countries. find greater improves The beneficial alleviate constraints ta...

A recent, comprehensive database is used to investigate the link between inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and innovation activity in China. The results of the analysis suggest that private and collectively owned firms with foreign capital participation and those with good access to domestic bank loans innovate more than other firms do. Among enterprises not owned by the state, inward FDI ...

We investigate how personal bankruptcy law affects small firms’ access to credit. When a firm is unincorporated, its debts are personal liabilities of the firm’s owner, so that lending to the firm is legally equivalent to lending to its owner. If the firm fails, the owner has an incentive to file for personal bankruptcy, since the firm’s debts will be discharged. The higher the exemption level,...

1.1. The credit problem There are many people in the world who have major difficulties obtaining credit. This can drastically constrain the economic opportunities available to them – they cannot start their own businesses, plant new high yielding varieties of crops, or survive through bad times caused by crop disasters or other factors. Without access to credit, they are stuck in a poverty trap...

Do credit market conditions affect corporate capital structures? In an attempt to answer this question, I study two natural experiments that affect corporate access to bank credit: the 1961 expansion of bank credit due to the emergence of the market for CDs, and the contraction associated with the 1966 credit crunch. I document several capital structure reactions to these changes in credit mark...

This paper studies the effects property rights on credit access using a unique data set based on a Brazilian land-titling program affecting 85,000 families. The causal role of land title is isolated by comparing two communities in Osasco, where some residential units are allocated titles and others not. Survey data is collected from residents before and after the title granting. In order to est...

Access to external finance, such as bank loans or trade credit, is a key determinant of a firm’s ability to develop, operate, and expand. Economic researchers have studied how various macroeconomic and microeconomic factors influence such access; for example, it has been shown to depend on the macroeconomic environment, since economic downturns tend to limit firms’ ability to borrow and banks’ ...

This study analysed factors influencing food security status of female headed farm households in Abia state, Nigeria. Multistage random sampling technique was employed in selecting 240 female headed farm households from whom data were collected using structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, food security indices and probit regression technique. Result...

Article history: Received 16 June 2014 Received in revised form 24 September 2014 Accepted 2 October 2014 Available online 13 October 2014 I study the impact of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy and resultant inability to honor its obligations as a lender under committed credit lines. Firms that lost access to a credit line committed by Lehman Brothers experienced abnormal stock returns of−3%, on ave...