We use loan-level data to study how the organizational structure of banks impacts small business lending. We find that decentralized banks ― where branch managers have greater autonomy over lending decisions ― give larger loans to small firms and those with “soft information”. However,...

This paper analyzes the creation of the market for small business credit in Mexico, which presents a rare opportunity to explore the mechanisms of institutional entrepreneurship. The paper analyzes successful and unsuccessful attempts to activate small business lending to determine the...

Entrepreneurship is essential to job creation and to productivity growth and therefore is an important matter for government policy. However, policymakers face a difficult challenge because successful growth for a few firms-which cannot easily be identified in advance-is accompanied by...