This paper models the borrowing decision of a small firm seeking a bank loan when it can optionally hire, at a cost, an independent external auditor to convey its risk characteristics to lenders. The analysis shows that a necessary condition for a potential borrower to prefer having an audit to...

Using the 1998 Survey of Small Business Finances and banking data to produce a bank-firm match, the author tests for evidence of standardized versus relationship lending methods in both total bank credit as well as credit emanating from the firm’s most important source of financial services,...

In theory commercial banks exist to resolve asymmetric information problems in credit markets. Because small business firms have much greater information problems than large firms, it is not surprising that they depend almost entirely on banks for external finance needs. Unfortunately, little is...

Finance companies have been perceived as isolated and insignificant lenders, attracting high risk borrowers and charging these borrowers relatively high prices. Using the 1988 National Survey of Small Business Finance, this study examines the relationship between finance companies and other...

This paper assesses the potential impact of securitization in improving small businesses’ access to credit. It begins by examining the nature of small business lending and the factors that make banks the primary providers of credit to small businesses. The paper then examines the conditions...

While academic research concerning capital structure of large corporations has been abundant in the finance literature, studies of small firms have been somewhat less common, and investigation of capital structure at origin (start-up) has been virtually nil. In this paper we present empirical...

Access to capital is an on-going challenge for small firms. Capital is required to address a broad range of needs: to cover start-up costs, to provide working capital, to secure facilities or equipment, and to hire employees. Most small firms are at a relative disadvantage, because they are too...

Despite financial economists' long-standing interest in the role of lender-borrower relationships in increasing the availability of funds to small businesses, many questions remain unanswered. Numerous empirical studies investigate the effect of relationships on the availability and terms of...