Guarantee banks backed by the state aim to close the gap in the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises or start-ups caused by lacking collateral or equity and high information asymmetry. The present study quantifies the economic and fiscal net benefits of guarantee banks in the new...

We empirically examine whether a major government intervention in the small-firm credit market yields significantly better results in markets that are less financially developed. The government intervention that we investigate is SBA-guaranteed lending. The literature on financing small and...

Information problems in small enterprise credit markets can result in a market equilibrium characterized by credit rationing. These information problems are potentially more severe during sharp economic downturns such as the recent Great Recession. Government interventions to alleviate credit...

Recent studies have provided evidence that financial market development leads to higher rates of economic growth. This is further investigated by focusing on the rationale that financial market development may increase the amount of external finance available to small firms. In particular, a...

We empirically test whether SBA-guaranteed lending has a greater impact on economic performance in markets with a high percentage of potential minority small businesses. This hypothesis is predicated on priors related to three overlapping assumptions. These three assumptions are: (1) The classic...

In this paper we empirically test whether the Small Business Administration's main guaranteed lending program - the 7(a) program - has a greater impact on economic performance in low income markets than in others. This hypothesis is predicated on our previous research (Craig, Jackson, and...

The guaranteed lending programs of the Small Business Administration (SBA) are large and growing rapidly. The SBA's fiscal year 2008 performance budget calls for $25 billion in guaranteed loans for small businesses - a new record for the agency. Some critics of SBA programs suggest they do not...

Increasingly policymakers are looking to the small business sector as a potential engine of economic growth. Policies to promote small businesses include tax relief, direct subsidies, and indirect subsidies through government lending programs. Encouraging lending to small business is the primary...

This paper investigates how the institutional arrangement in China's financial market increase the cost of capital for underdeveloped areas. I show that fiscal capacity results in higher leverage but not superior profitability for local government financing vehicles. Infrastructure in fiscally...

Guarantee banks backed by the state aim to close the gap in the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises or start-ups caused by lacking collateral or equity and high information asymmetry. The present study quantifies the economic and fiscal net benefits of guarantee banks in the new...