On the Link Between Managerial Attributes and Firm Access to Formal Credit in Myanmar

Using a survey of enterprises in Myanmar, we examine demand for formal credit and the extent to which firms are self-constrained by not applying for credit or if they apply and are constrained by bank’s rejections. We have information about firm managers’ managerial capacity and risk attitude. We use this to test if the allocation of loanable funds is systematically associated with the attributes. We find that these attributes are positively associated with firm performance and the probability of both having credit demand and applying for credit. On the supply side we find no discernible links to the traits once we control for self-constraint in applying for credit. Thus, the traits improve credit access through a higher likelihood of applying for credit not a higher probability of being granted credit when applying. We suggest to improve the allocation of credit by incentivizing banks to utilize information about managers’ business capacity.