Local financial development and firm performance: Evidence from Morocco

Combining data from the Moroccan census of manufacturing enterprises with information from a commune survey, we test whether firm expansion is affected by local financial development. Our findings are consistent with this hypothesis: local bank availability is robustly associated with faster growth for small and medium-size firms in sectors with growth opportunities, with a lower likelihood of firm exit and a higher likelihood of investment. Regarding the channel, the evidence suggests that, over the study period, access to credit was used by pre-existing Moroccan firms to mobilize investment funds, with some evidence that they were partly used towards reducing labor costs.