We study the effects of a unique lending program initiated by the Swedish government at the height of the financial crisis that allowed firms to suspend payment of all labor-related taxes and fees. Comprehensive administrative data on all Swedish firms show that firms borrowing from the program...

The 2008-09 global financial crisis had a profound impact on the availability of bank credit for SMEs. Although a decline in the demand for bank credit played an important role, banks have also become more reluctant to lend, including as a consequence of new capital requirements. Moreover, a...

We study the effects of a unique lending program initiated by the Swedish government at the height of the financial crisis that allowed firms to suspend payment of all labor-related taxes and fees. Comprehensive administrative data on all Swedish firms show that firms borrowing from the program...

This paper studies how access to bank lending differed between family and non-family firms in the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The theoretical prediction is that family block-holders’ incentive structure results in lower agency conflict in the borrower-lender relationship. Using highly detailed...

The present report analyses the extent to which capital markets have provided capital to SMEs since the GFC, focusing on three kinds of financial instruments that have proven especially important in providing finance to SMEs undergoing major transitions during the past few years: Private Equity;...

When the credit crisis started in 2008, a total of 67 entrepreneurs sought advice with the European Centre of Managerial Studies in Business Administration of the Spiru Haret University in Bucharest in order to find alternatives to finance classic loans that could enable them perform their...

By analyzing a full dataset of 437 Italian equity crowdfunding campaigns over the period 2014-2020, and then by focusing on a sub-sample of 79 projects posted on the websites of platforms from January 2020 to June 2020, this chapter explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian...

We examine the evolution of several key firm economic and financial variables in the years surrounding and during the Great Recession using the Kauffman Firm Survey, a large panel of young firms founded in 2004 and surveyed for eight consecutive years. We find that these young firms experienced...

Access to external finance is a key challenge for the creation, survival and growth of SMEs. This article delves into the “weak funding” handicap of rural small firms (SEs): the access to bank financing and the substitutive role of trade credit for entrepreneurs in rural areas when they...

In his book, 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed - and What to Do about It,' Harvard Business School Professor, Josh Lerner, explains that governments can only play a limited role in spurring innovation and entrepreneurship....