IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/eibwps/201903.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Financing and obstacles for high growth enterprises: The European case

Author

Listed:
  • Ferrando, Annalisa
  • Pal, Rozalia
  • Durante, Elena

Abstract

This paper investigates the links between alternative growth phases of firms and barriers to financing and investment using firm-level information for a representative sample of EU companies. We propose a novel classification of corporates: high growth (HGEs), stable and declining enterprises. We find that during the phase of high growth, firms are on average more financially constrained. To match their needs for external finance, HGEs are more likely to apply for equity financing. Furthermore, we identify firms with high growth potential. Using survey data, we investigate the barriers to investment activities faced by actual and potential HGEs. Our findings suggest that the most stringent obstacles for actual HGEs are the availability of skilled staff and business regulations, while potential HGEs are blocked by uncertainty about the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferrando, Annalisa & Pal, Rozalia & Durante, Elena, 2019. "Financing and obstacles for high growth enterprises: The European case," EIB Working Papers 2019/03, European Investment Bank (EIB).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:eibwps:201903
    DOI: 10.2867/14742
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/193673/1/1067660410.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2867/14742?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alain de Serres & Shuji Kobayakawa & Torsten Sløk & Laura Vartia, 2006. "Regulation of Financial Systems and Economic Growth," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 506, OECD Publishing.
    2. Stijn Claessens & Luc Laeven, 2003. "Financial Development, Property Rights, and Growth," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(6), pages 2401-2436, December.
    3. Paul Schreyer, 2000. "High-Growth Firms and Employment," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2000/3, OECD Publishing.
    4. Robert G. King & Ross Levine, 1993. "Finance and Growth: Schumpeter Might Be Right," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 717-737.
    5. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson, 2010. "Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-244, September.
    6. Philippe Aghion & Thibault Fally & Stefano Scarpetta, 2007. "Credit constraints as a barrier to the entry and post-entry growth of firms [‘Dualism and macroeconomic volatility’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(52), pages 732-779.
    7. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    8. Cristina Fernández & Roberta García & Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Benedicta Marzinotto & Roberta Serafini & Juuso Vanhala & Ladislav Wintr, 2017. "Firm growth in Europe: An overview based on the COMPNET labour module," BCL working papers 107, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    9. Klapper, Leora & Laeven, Luc & Rajan, Raghuram, 2006. "Entry regulation as a barrier to entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 591-629, December.
    10. Delmar, Frédéric & McKelvie, Alexander & Wennberg, Karl, 2013. "Untangling the relationships among growth, profitability and survival in new firms," Ratio Working Papers 205, The Ratio Institute.
    11. Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Sergio Puente, 2012. "What makes a high-growth firm? A dynamic probit analysis using Spanish firm-level data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1029-1041, November.
    12. Ferrando, Annalisa & Wolski, Marcin, 2018. "Investment of financially distressed firms: The role of trade credit," EIB Working Papers 2018/04, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    13. Cristina Guillamón & Enrique Moral-Benito & Sergio Puente, 2017. "High growth firms in employment and productivity: dynamic interactions and the role of financial constraints?," Working Papers 1718, Banco de España.
    14. Michaelas, Nicos & Chittenden, Francis & Poutziouris, Panikkos, 1999. "Financial Policy and Capital Structure Choice in U.K. SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Company Panel Data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 113-130, March.
    15. Albert Bravo-Biosca & Chiara Criscuolo & Carlo Menon, 2016. "What drives the dynamics of business growth?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 31(88), pages 703-742.
    16. Audretsch, David B. & Link, Albert N. & Walshok, Mary Lindenstein (ed.), 2015. "The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199993307.
    17. Neil Lee, 2014. "What holds back high-growth firms? Evidence from UK SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 183-195, June.
    18. Marianna Succurro, 2012. "Bankruptcy systems and economic performance across countries: some empirical evidence," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 101-126, February.
    19. Colin Mason & Ross Brown, 2013. "Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 211-225, February.
    20. Ferrando, Annalisa & Altomonte, Carlo & Blank, Sven & Meinen, Philipp & Iudice, Matteo & Felt, Marie-Hélène & Neugebauer, Katja & Siedschlag, Iulia, 2015. "Assessing the financial and financing conditions of firms in Europe: the financial module in CompNet," Working Paper Series 1836, European Central Bank.
    21. Oecd, 2006. "The SME Financing Gap: Theory and Evidence," Financial Market Trends, OECD Publishing, vol. 2006(2), pages 89-97.
    22. Pagan, Adrian, 1984. "Econometric Issues in the Analysis of Regressions with Generated Regressors," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 25(1), pages 221-247, February.
    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. Pablo Moya-Martínez & Raúl Del Pozo-Rubio, 2021. "The financing of SMEs in the Spanish tourism sector at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis: Lessons to learn?," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(7), pages 1323-1336, November.
    2. Alex Coad & Clemens Domnick & Florian Flachenecker & Peter Harasztosi & Mario Lorenzo Janiri & Rozalia Pal & Mercedes Teruel, 2022. "Capacity constraints as a trigger for high growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 893-923, October.
    3. Lalinsky, Tibor & Pál, Rozália, 2021. "Efficiency and effectiveness of the COVID-19 government support: Evidence from firm-level data," EIB Working Papers 2021/06, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    4. Coad, Alexander & Domnick, Clemens & Flachenecker, Florian & Harasztosi, Peter & Janiri, Mario Lorenzo & Pál, Rozália & Teruel Carrizosa, Mercedes, 2021. "Do capacity constraints trigger high growth for enterprises?," EIB Working Papers 2021/08, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    5. Sander Lammers & Massimo Giuliodori & Robert Schmitz & Adam Elbourne, 2023. "Bank Funding, SME lending and Risk Taking," CPB Discussion Paper 447, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Florian Flachenecker & Martin Kornejew & Mario Lorenzo Janiri, 2021. "The effects of publicly supported environmental innovations on firm growth in the European Union," SEEDS Working Papers 0721, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jun 2021.
    7. Teruel Carrizosa, Mercedes & Coad, Alexander & Domnick, Clemens & Flachenecker, Florian & Harasztosi, Péter & Janiri, Mario Lorenzo & Pál, Rozália, 2021. "The birth of new high growth enterprises: Internationalisation through new digital technologies," EIB Working Papers 2021/02, European Investment Bank (EIB).

    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. Besnik A. Krasniqi & Sameeksha Desai, 2016. "Institutional drivers of high-growth firms: country-level evidence from 26 transition economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1075-1094, December.
    2. Cristina Guillamón & Enrique Moral-Benito & Sergio Puente, 2017. "High growth firms in employment and productivity: dynamic interactions and the role of financial constraints?," Working Papers 1718, Banco de España.
    3. Mendoza, Ronald U. & Canare, Tristan A. & Ang, Alvin, 2015. "Doing Business: A Review of Literature and Its Role in APEC 2015," Research Paper Series DP 2015-37, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    4. Alex Coad & Stjepan Srhoj, 2020. "Catching Gazelles with a Lasso: Big data techniques for the prediction of high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 541-565, October.
    5. Annie Royer & Josée St-Pierre, 2020. "Facteurs qui entravent ou facilitent l’expansion des PME en croissance rapide de l’industrie bioalimentaire," CIRANO Project Reports 2020rp-37, CIRANO.
    6. Ang, Alvin & Mendoza, Ronald U. & Canare, Tristan A., 2015. "Doing Business: A Review of Literature and Its Role in APEC 2015," Discussion Papers DP 2015-37, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    7. Eva Christine Erhardt, 2022. "Prevalence and Persistence of High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Which Institutions Matter Most?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 297-332, June.
    8. Cristina Fernández & Roberta García & Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Benedicta Marzinotto & Roberta Serafini & Juuso Vanhala & Ladislav Wintr, 2017. "Firm growth in Europe: An overview based on the COMPNET labour module," BCL working papers 107, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    9. Barbiero, Francesca & Popov, Alexander & Wolski, Marcin, 2020. "Debt overhang, global growth opportunities, and investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Bottasso, Anna & Conti, Maurizio & Sulis, Giovanni, 2017. "Firm dynamics and employment protection: Evidence from sectoral data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 35-53.
    11. Pagano, Marco & Jappelli, Tullio, 2008. "Financial Market Integration Under EMU," CEPR Discussion Papers 7091, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. José Miguel Giner & María Jesús Santa-María & Antonio Fuster, 2017. "High-growth firms: does location matter?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 75-96, March.
    13. Erhardt, Eva, 2017. "Who persistently creates jobs? Absolute versus relative high-growth firms," MPRA Paper 79307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Antonio Ciccone & Elias Papaioannou, 2010. "Estimating cross-industry cross-country models using benchmark industry characteristics," Economics Working Papers 1235, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jun 2016.
    15. Kovács, Olivér, 2020. "Gazellák az iparpolitika tükrében, I [Gazelles and industrial policy, Part 1]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 54-87.
    16. Maskus, Keith E. & Neumann, Rebecca & Seidel, Tobias, 2012. "How national and international financial development affect industrial R&D," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 72-83.
    17. Philippe Aghion & Thibault Fally & Stefano Scarpetta, 2007. "Credit constraints as a barrier to the entry and post-entry growth of firms [‘Dualism and macroeconomic volatility’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(52), pages 732-779.
    18. Neil Lee, 2014. "What holds back high-growth firms? Evidence from UK SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 183-195, June.
    19. Erhardt, Eva Christine, 2018. "Firm performance after high growth: A comparison of absolute and relative growth measures," MPRA Paper 88077, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    high growth enterprises; financing conditions; bank financing; equity financing; obstacles to investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:eibwps:201903. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ceeiblu.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.