Ginés Hernández-Cánovas

Banking Relationships: Effects on Debt Terms for Small Spanish Firms*

This paper analyzes the effect of banking relationships on interest rates and the probability that guarantees must be provided in a sample of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The results indicate that SMEs that work with fewer banks obtain debt at a lower cost. This seems to suggest that concentrated banking relationships reduce the uncertainty of lending to risky firms, which translates into lower interest rates. Reduction in risk could come from greater flexibility in negotiations, increased control over the investment, and mitigation of the free‐rider problem. When the relationship is exclusive, which would represent the maximum concentration, a bank can take advantage of its monopoly position and require more guarantees from a firm. SMEs that have longer‐term relationships with their bank are more likely to be required to provide guarantees. This result seems to suggest that SMEs involved in longer‐term relationships are subject to the information monopoly of the lender.

SME financing in Europe: Cross-country determinants of bank loan maturity

This article examines the influence of cross-country differences on bank loan maturity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using a sample of 3366 SMEs from 19 European countries. It analyses a country’s legal and institutional environment while controlling for banking structure, economic situation and firm-specific characteristics. The study finds that SMEs in countries that protect its creditors and enforce existing laws are more likely to obtain long-term bank debt. It also shows evidence that banks seem to rely more on the institutional environment when determining loan maturity for micro-firms than for medium-sized firms. Policymakers should take these findings into consideration when proposing policy changes that are likely to impact the legal or institutional environment. For example, policy changes that affect creditor protection may have a direct impact on SME lending, and thus have economic consequences.

Legal and institutional determinants of factoring in SMEs: Empirical analysis across 25 European countries

Weak protection of the rights of financiers intensifies agency problems in SME financing, inhibiting the optimal provision of credit necessary to grow and innovate. We use a survey data set of 4,348 SMEs from 25 European countries to analyze whether the use of factoring as a form of SME financing is less dependent on low quality of laws and institutions. We do so analyzing whether the use of factoring by SMEs differs across countries due to differences in the legal protection of creditors. Our findings indicate that firms operating in countries with legal environments that weakly protect the rights of creditors, with political instability or high enforcement costs, are more likely to use factoring. Managers of riskier and opaque companies operating in such inefficient environments can use the results of this study to better understand that there are suitable options to complement bank financing. Managers who seek loans can use the results to diversify their financing structure through the use of factoring. Since factoring can be used as a complement to bank loans or as a substitute for bank financing, it is important that policy makers take our results into account when revising policies concerning access to external financing.

EFECTOS DEL AVAL DE LAS SOCIEDADES DE GARANTÍA RECÍPROCA EN LA DEUDA DE LAS PYMES

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of a guarantee received from a Mutual Guarantee Society on the cost and availability of credit for small and medium sized enterprises. A sample of SMEs that were guaranteed in 2010 is analyzed. The results show that, in general, SMEs that obtained financing guaranteed by a Mutual Guarantee Society enjoy greater access to bank financing than those not financed in this manner