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Assessing the credit worthiness of Italian SMEs and mini-bond issuers

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  • Altman, Edward I.
  • Esentato, Maurizio
  • Sabato, Gabriele

Abstract

A number of innovations have been introduced in the last five years to counter the devastating impact of credit rationing in Europe, particularly from traditional bank lending. This is a major problem for the small and medium size firms' sector in Europe, which has also suffered from bank regulatory concerns of capital adequacy, heightened emphasis on default risk of bank counterparties and the general malfunctioning of credit extension and private sector growth. In Italy, some of these less traditional sources of funding for SMEs have started to become more popular and the development of the mini-bond market is a clear example. We believe “mini-bonds” can be a success in Italy as long as the market supplies an attractive risk/return tradeoff to investors as well as affordable and flexible financing for borrowers. Assessments of credit risk must be convincing and objective, providing complements to the traditional rating agency process. In this study, we develop a new innovative model to assess SMEs' creditworthiness and we test it on the companies that have issued mini-bonds so far. Our findings confirm that the amount of information asymmetry is still high in the market and is affecting the level of risk/return trade off potentially reducing the number of investors and small businesses that would be interested in using this new channel to fund their business growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Altman, Edward I. & Esentato, Maurizio & Sabato, Gabriele, 2020. "Assessing the credit worthiness of Italian SMEs and mini-bond issuers," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:glofin:v:43:y:2020:i:c:s1044028317304891
    DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2018.09.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Edward Altman & Gabriele Sabato, 2005. "Effects of the New Basel Capital Accord on Bank Capital Requirements for SMEs," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 28(1), pages 15-42, October.
    2. repec:bla:jfinan:v:44:y:1989:i:4:p:909-22 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Edward I. Altman & Gabriele Sabato, 2013. "MODELING CREDIT RISK FOR SMEs: EVIDENCE FROM THE US MARKET," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Oliviero Roggi & Edward I Altman (ed.), Managing and Measuring Risk Emerging Global Standards and Regulations After the Financial Crisis, chapter 9, pages 251-279, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
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    2. Zedda, Stefano, 2024. "Credit scoring: Does XGboost outperform logistic regression?A test on Italian SMEs," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    3. Francesco Ciampi & Alessandro Giannozzi & Giacomo Marzi & Edward I. Altman, 2021. "Rethinking SME default prediction: a systematic literature review and future perspectives," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(3), pages 2141-2188, March.
    4. Elena Carletti & Tommaso Oliviero & Marco Pagano & Loriana Pelizzon & Marti G Subrahmanyam, 2020. "The COVID-19 Shock and Equity Shortfall: Firm-Level Evidence from Italy," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 534-568.
    5. Guido Max Mantovani & Gregory Gadzinski, 2022. "How to Rate the Financial Performance of Private Companies? A Tailored Integrated Rating Methodology Applied to North-Eastern Italian Districts," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, October.
    6. Roy Cerqueti & Catherine Deffains‐Crapsky & Saverio Storani, 2023. "Green finance instruments: Exploring minibonds issuance in Italy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1965-1986, July.
    7. Mazanai Musara & Cecile Nieuwenhuizen, 2021. "A value proposition mix framework of successful foreign-owned small and medium enterprises in South Africa," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 9(1), pages 612-632, September.
    8. Bariko Delphin & Olawumi Dele Awolusi, 2023. "Credit Accessibility and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in Bujumbura, Burundi," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 15(4), pages 13-36.
    9. Cerqueti, Roy & Deffains-Crapsky, Catherine & Storani, Saverio, 2022. "Similarity-based heterogeneity and cohesiveness of networked companies issuing minibonds," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    10. Kautonen, Teemu & Fredriksson, Antti & Minniti, Maria & Moro, Andrea, 2020. "Trust-based banking and SMEs’ access to credit," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    11. Marco Corazza & Giovanni Fasano & Stefania Funari & Riccardo Gusso, 2021. "MURAME parameter setting for creditworthiness evaluation: data-driven optimization," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 44(1), pages 295-339, June.
    12. Gabriele Beccari & Francesco Marchionne & Beniamino Pisicoli, 2022. "Alternative financing and investment in intangibles: evidence from Italian firms," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 174, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    13. Agyekum, Francis K. & Reddy, Krishna & Wallace, Damien & Wellalage, Nirosha H., 2022. "Does technological inclusion promote financial inclusion among SMEs? Evidence from South-East Asian (SEA) countries," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    SME finance; Modelling credit risk for SMEs; Mini-bonds; Market efficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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