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Euro Area SMEs under Financial Constraints: Belief or Reality?

Author

Listed:
  • Concha Artola
  • Veronique Genre

Abstract

During the recent financial crisis, euro area firms, and especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, have been reporting acute problems of access to external finance. Using firm-level replies to the SME survey on access to finance, we use two indicators of financing constraints based on perceptions on the one side and on experienced financing constraints on the other and run probit and multinomial regressions model to determine which firms’, sectoral or national characteristics drove perceptions and experienced financial constraints during the recent financial turmoil. We find that perceptions of financing crunch was broadly based across firms but those firms who really experienced a credit crunch tended to be small and young, confirming the fact that SMEs tend to suffer more when credit standards are tightened.

Suggested Citation

  • Concha Artola & Veronique Genre, 2011. "Euro Area SMEs under Financial Constraints: Belief or Reality?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3650, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3650
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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