Microenterprises and Multiple Bank Relationships : The Case of Professionals

While it is conventional wisdom that small and medium-sized firms tend to hold multiple banking relationships, evidence about the financial behavior of micro firms is scarce. The present paper focuses on professionals as a special group of microenterprises. It explains their characteristics and financial relationships, using data from a survey conducted in Germany in 2002. Consistent with the theory of asymmetric information and relationship lending, we find that these firms maintain a small number of bank relationships, which increases in firm size and age. They tend to choose multiple banking relationships to overcome credit rationing and finance larger loans. Credit risk and the structure of the banking market do not seem to matter