The objective of this research is to develop a structural form probability of default model for small and medium-sized enterprises, dealing with the methodological issues which arise in the modelling of small commercial loan portfolios, and to test the applicability of the model in practice....

This paper reports a survey result conducted in May 2012. We sent a questionnaire to 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whose main business sector is manufacture and which locate in Aichi Prefecture, one of the largest economic regions in Japan. 803 SMEs answered this...

Difficulties in finding appropriate financing weigh heavily on the ability to grow of Italy’s small enterprises, due to their narrow equity base and limited access to credit markets. The State Fund for guarantees to SMEs is one of the instruments used to overcome such difficulties. This essay...

Ratings are increasing their functions (origination of credit, control, determination of regulatory capital, supporting accounting valuations) in full harmony with the more general development of risk management. In parallel also increases the difficulty of rating to make compatible purposes...

Using data for the Italian Central Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises, the paper analyses the effect of partial credit guarantees on firms’ financing. We show that neglecting heterogeneity in guarantee intensities, namely considering all firms as equally treated, leads to a...