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Is Small Beautiful? Financial Structure, Size and Access to Finance

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  • Beck, Thorsten
  • Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli
  • Singer, Dorothe

Abstract

Combining two unique data sets, this paper explores the relationship between financial structure and firms’ access to financial services. Specifically, it considers the importance of three different types of financial institutions: low-end financial institutions, specialized lenders, and banks. Two findings stand out. First, dominance of the financial system by banks is associated with lower use of financial services by firms of all sizes, while low-end financial institutions and specialized lenders seem particularly suited to ease access to finance in low-income countries. Second, there is no evidence that smaller institutions are better in providing access to finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Beck, Thorsten & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Singer, Dorothe, 2013. "Is Small Beautiful? Financial Structure, Size and Access to Finance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 19-33.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:52:y:2013:i:c:p:19-33
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.05.014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirguc-Kunt & Luc Laeven & Ross Levine, 2008. "Finance, Firm Size, and Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(7), pages 1379-1405, October.
    2. de la Torre, Augusto & Martínez Pería, María Soledad & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2010. "Bank involvement with SMEs: Beyond relationship lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2280-2293, September.
    3. Allen Berger & Iftekhar Hasan & Leora Klapper, 2004. "Further Evidence on the Link between Finance and Growth: An International Analysis of Community Banking and Economic Performance," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 169-202, April.
    4. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2006. "The influence of financial and legal institutions on firm size," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2995-3015, November.
    5. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    6. Levine, Ross, 2005. "Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Handbook of Economic Growth,in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 865-934 Elsevier.
    7. Berger, Allen N. & Udell, Gregory F., 2006. "A more complete conceptual framework for SME finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2945-2966, November.
    8. Antonio Ciccone & Elias Papaioannou, 2010. "Estimating Cross-Industry Cross-Country Models Using Benchmark Industry Characteristics," Working Papers 504, Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
    9. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    10. Beck, T.H.L. & Demirgüc-Kunt, A. & Martinez Peria, M., 2011. "Banking financing for SME's : Evidence across countries and bank ownership types," Other publications TiSEM c4d491c9-2cc6-40f6-ad55-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Beck, Thorsten & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2008. "Financing patterns around the world: Are small firms different?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 467-487, September.
    12. Levine, Ross, 2002. "Bank-Based or Market-Based Financial Systems: Which Is Better?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 398-428, October.
    13. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2002. "Funding growth in bank-based and market-based financial systems: evidence from firm-level data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 337-363, September.
    14. Thorsten Beck & Samuel Munzele Maimbo & Issa Faye & Thouraya Triki, 2011. "Financing Africa : Through the Crisis and Beyond," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 2355.
    15. Beck, Thorsten & Cull, Robert & Fuchs, Michael & Getenga, Jared & Gatere, Peter & Randa, John & Trandafir, Mircea, 2010. "Banking sector stability, efficiency, and outreach in Kenya," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5442, The World Bank.
    16. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2005. "Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 137-177, February.
    17. Ayyagari, Meghana & Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asl, 2003. "Small and medium enterprises across the globe : a new database," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3127, The World Bank.
    18. Beck, Thorsten & Levine, Ross, 2002. "Industry growth and capital allocation:*1: does having a market- or bank-based system matter?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 147-180, May.
    19. Beatriz Armendariz & Jonathan Morduch, 2007. "The Economics of Microfinance," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262512017, January.
    20. Rousseau, Peter L. & D’Onofrio, Alexandra, 2013. "Monetization, Financial Development, and Growth: Time Series Evidence from 22 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 132-153.
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    Cited by:

    1. Wignaraja, Ganeshan & Jinjarak, Yothin, 2015. "Why Do SMEs Not Borrow More from Banks? Evidence from the People's Republic of China and Southeast Asia," ADBI Working Papers 509, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    2. Ggombe Kasim Munyegera & Tomoya Matsumoto, 2015. "ICT for Financial Inclusion: Mobile Money and the Financial Behavior of Rural Households in Uganda," GRIPS Discussion Papers 15-20, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
    3. Kim, Dong-Hyeon & Lin, Shu-Chin & Chen, Ting-Cih, 2016. "Financial structure, firm size and industry growth," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 23-39.
    4. Iris Kruja, 2014. "Impact of Firm Specific Charachteristics in the Access to External Finances of SMEs," Proceedings of FIKUSZ '14,in: Pál Michelberger (ed.), Proceedings of FIKUSZ '14, pages 135-160 Óbuda University, Keleti Faculty of Business and Management.
    5. Stephan Heblich & Alex Trew, 2015. "Banking and Industrialization," CDMA Working Paper Series 201502, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis, revised 01 Dec 2017.
    6. Castro, Fernanda & Kalatzis, Aquiles E.G. & Martins-Filho, Carlos, 2015. "Financing in an emerging economy: Does financial development or financial structure matter?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 96-123.
    7. Franklin Allen & Laura Bartiloro & Xian Gu & Oskar Kowalewksi, 2016. "Does Economic Structure Determine Financial Structure?," Working Papers 2016-ACF-02, IESEG School of Management.
    8. Stephany Griffith-Jones, 2014. "Pour une libéralisation prudente du secteur financier : implications en matière de politique économique," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 22(2), pages 81-112.

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