While the importance of venture capital to the growth of small firms has been widely discussed during the past decade, little is know about the uses of equity capital, especially internal equity capital, by majority of small firms in the United States. Information from the Federal Reserve...

Banking consolidation has continued to accelerate over the past several years, assisted by technological innovations in information management and statistical modeling, and by the large merger and acquisition (M&A) deals of the late 1990s. Total domestic assets held by the largest 50 bank...

This paper updates information about the databases available for researchers in conducting small business financial research. A definition of a statistical database is provided first as a basis for selecting a database suitable for statistical research. Five major databases are discussed in...

This study gives estimates of the number of households owning privately held businesses in the United States, compares the demographic and economic characteristics of business owners and non-business owners, and examines the relationship between the growth in the total number of business...

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...

Two alternative research hypotheses concerning how small business lending affects bank profitability are tested. The specialization hypothesis argues for higher profitability than other banks due to increased focus on small business lending, whereas the diversification hypothesis Two alternative...

Two alternative research hypotheses concerning how small business lending affects bank profitability are tested. The specialization hypothesis argues for higher profitability than other banks due to increased focus on small business lending, whereas the diversification hypothesis Two alternative...