IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/men/journl/v1y2015i1p43-53.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Access to External Finance Affect Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and Economic Growth?

Author

Listed:
  • Dominykas Poderys

    (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania)

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become increasingly important in nowadays society as providers of employment opportunities and key players for the well-being of local and regional communities. Access to external funding is one of the largest problem facing SMEs in European Union (EU). Entrepreneurs face difficulties implementing their development plans while creating new businesses, adopting innovation, etc. Scientists also argue that without external funding business cannot achieve good financial performance results. The European Commission (EC) is implementing a number of programs specifically designed to improve the financial environment for SMEs in Europe. Since the financial markets have failed to provide SMEs with the finance they need, the EC has developed and funded various financial instruments. According to the scientists, creating the appropriate conditions for the development of SMEs in each country would possibly reduce the unemployment rate, accelerate country's economic growth, help to overcome social problems, and create competitive environment. Given the current economic situation in the EU countries, the subject's relevance is obvious underlying the importance to assess whether a better access to external funding sources would provide benefits to the countries at micro and macro levels. The main empirical findings of this study confirm the results of early empirical studies that a better access to external funding is an important growth factor for SMEs as well as for the whole economy. The panel regression analysis results suggest that a better access to banks' funding has a positive and statistically significant effect on country's economic growth as well as on SMEs development, however, a better access to equity finance (venture capital, business angels' investment) has no statistically significant effect. While SMEs represent over 99% of businesses in the EU so it is crucial to support their growth and innovation as well as improve the financing environment for small businesses in Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Dominykas Poderys, 2015. "Does Access to External Finance Affect Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and Economic Growth?," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 43-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:men:journl:v:1:y:2015:i:1:p:43-53
    DOI: 10.11118/ejobsat.v1i1.37
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ejobsat.cz/doi/10.11118/ejobsat.v1i1.37.html
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: http://ejobsat.cz/doi/10.11118/ejobsat.v1i1.37.pdf
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.11118/ejobsat.v1i1.37?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, 2006. "Small and medium-size enterprises: Access to finance as a growth constraint," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2931-2943, November.
    2. Andrea Mina & Henry Lahr & Alan Hughes, 2013. "The demand and supply of external finance for innovative firms," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(4), pages 869-901, August.
    3. Karthik Krishnan & Debarshi K. Nandy & Manju Puri, 2015. "Does Financing Spur Small Business Productivity? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1768-1809.
    4. Vos, Ed & Yeh, Andy Jia-Yuh & Carter, Sara & Tagg, Stephen, 2007. "The happy story of small business financing," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 2648-2672, September.
    5. Roberto Álvarez & Ricardo A. López, 2014. "Access to banking finance and exporting," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(6), pages 1523-1539.
    6. Hala El-Said & Mahmoud Al-Said & Chahir Zaki, 2015. "Trade and access to finance of SMEs: is there a nexus?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(39), pages 4184-4199, August.
    7. Lee, Neil & Sameen, Hiba & Cowling, Marc, 2015. "Access to finance for innovative SMEs since the financial crisis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 370-380.
    8. Becchetti, Leonardo & Trovato, Giovanni, 2002. "The Determinants of Growth for Small and Medium Sized Firms: The Role of the Availability of External Finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 291-306, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jarko Fidrmuc & Svatopluk Kapounek & Martin Siddiqui, 2017. "Which Institutions Are Important for Firms Performance? Evidence from Bayesian Model Averaging Analysis," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 64(4), pages 383-400, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Phuong Anh Nguyen & Thuy Anh Tram Uong & Quang Dung Nguyen, 2020. "How Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise Innovation Affects Credit Accessibility: The Case of Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-17, November.
    2. D’Orazio, Paola & Valente, Marco, 2019. "The role of finance in environmental innovation diffusion: An evolutionary modeling approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 417-439.
    3. Brown, Ross & Lee, Neil, 2014. "Funding issues confronting high growth SMEs in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57264, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Minna Saunila & Juhani Ukko & Tero Rantala & Mina Nasiri & Hannu Rantanen, 2020. "Preceding operational capabilities as antecedents for productivity and innovation performance," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(4), pages 537-561, May.
    5. Mushtaq, Rizwan & Gull, Ammar Ali & Usman, Muhammad, 2022. "ICT adoption, innovation, and SMEs’ access to finance," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(3).
    6. Anoosheh Rostamkalaei & Mark Freel, 2016. "The cost of growth: small firms and the pricing of bank loans," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 255-272, February.
    7. Brown, Ross & Lee, Neil, 2019. "Strapped for cash? Funding for UK high growth SMEs since the global financial crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 37-45.
    8. Marcin Kedzior & Barbara Grabinska & Konrad Grabinski & Dorota Kedzior, 2020. "Capital Structure Choices in Technology Firms: Empirical Results from Polish Listed Companies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, September.
    9. Iván Arribas & Emili Tortosa-Ausina & TingTing Zhu, 2021. "Optimal capital structure, model uncertainty, and European SMEs," Working Papers 2021/11, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    10. Giraudo, Emanuele & Giudici, Giancarlo & Grilli, Luca, 2019. "Entrepreneurship policy and the financing of young innovative companies: Evidence from the Italian Startup Act," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    11. Masiak, Christian & Moritz, Alexandra & Lang, Frank, 2017. "Financing Patterns of European SMEs Revisited: An Updated Empirical Taxonomy and Determinants of SME Financing Clusters," EIF Working Paper Series 2017/40, European Investment Fund (EIF).
    12. Song, Hua & Yang, Xuan & Yu, Kangkang, 2020. "How do supply chain network and SMEs’ operational capabilities enhance working capital financing? An integrative signaling view," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    13. Cowling, Marc & Ughetto, Elisa & Lee, Neil, 2018. "The innovation debt penalty: Cost of debt, loan default, and the effects of a public loan guarantee on high-tech firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 166-176.
    14. Schäfer, Dorothea & Stephan, Andreas & Mosquera, Jenniffer Solórzano, 2015. "Innovation Capabilities and Financing Constraints of Family Firms," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 425, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    15. Rahman Ashiqur & Belas Jaroslav & Rahman M. Twyeafur, 2017. "Determinants of SME Finance: Evidence from Three Central European Countries," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 17(3), pages 263-285, September.
    16. Dowling, Michael & O’Gorman, Colm & Puncheva, Petya & Vanwalleghem, Dieter, 2019. "Trust and SME attitudes towards equity financing across Europe," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1-1.
    17. Francesco Aiello & Graziella Bonanno & Stefania P. S. Rossi, 2020. "How firms finance innovation. Further empirics from European SMEs," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(4), pages 689-714, November.
    18. Thomas Poufinas & Maria Polychronou, 2018. "Alternative investments as a financing tool for small and medium enterprises," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 13-44.
    19. Muhammad Arif & Mudassar Hasan & Ahmed Shafique Joyo & Christopher Gan & Sazali Abidin, 2020. "Formal Finance Usage and Innovative SMEs: Evidence from ASEAN Countries," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-19, September.
    20. Thi Thu Tra Pham & Thai Vu Hong Nguyen & Son Kien Nguyen & Hieu Thi Hoang Nguyen, 2023. "Does planned innovation promote financial access? Evidence from Vietnamese SMEs," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(2), pages 281-307, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    small and medium-sized enterprises; access to finance; economic growth; the European Union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:men:journl:v:1:y:2015:i:1:p:43-53. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ivo Andrle (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/femencz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.