In the current recession, politicians grant state aid of yet unknown dimensions. But what is the most efficient measure for granting such aid? We use a theoretical model with firms that differ in their creditworthiness and compare different types of direct subsidies with indirectly subsidized...

We use the 2020 Small Business Credit Survey to study the sources of racial disparities in use of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Black-owned firms are 8.9 percentage points less likely to receive PPP loans than observably similar white-owned firms. About 55% of this take-up disparity is...

We use the 2020 Small Business Credit Survey to study the sources of racial disparities in use of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Black-owned firms are 8.9 percentage points less likely than observably similar white-owned firms to receive PPP loans. About 55% of this take-up disparity is...