IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/erg/wpaper/1695.html

Finance-Growth Nexus in Time of Covid-19 Lockdown: Case of Iranian MSMES

Author

Listed:
  • Iman Cheratian

    (Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran)

  • Saleh Goltabar

    (Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (ACECR))

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between access to finance and financial constraint to growth in sales and production for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Iran. Our study, based on data from 486 enterprises across five provinces, demonstrates that external financing is positively associated with the growth of MSMEs. While firms’ obstacle in accessing external financing exerts a negative and significant impact on growth. The results also indicate that access to technology, owner education, and new employment are positively related with the growth of firms. On the other hand, the experience of bankruptcy and labor adjustment has a negative and significant impact on the sales and production growth of MSMEs. Finally, financed firms that have not been affected by COVID-19 exhibit greater growth than those that have been impacted by the pandemic. However, in the absence of external financing, the decline in growth is more pronounced for firms that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Iman Cheratian & Saleh Goltabar, 2023. "Finance-Growth Nexus in Time of Covid-19 Lockdown: Case of Iranian MSMES," Working Papers 1695, Economic Research Forum, revised 20 Dec 2023.
    • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:1695
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://erf.org.eg/publications/finance-growth-nexus-in-time-of-covid-19-lockdown-case-of-iranian-msmes/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://erf.org.eg/app/uploads/2023/12/1702903541_256_768933_1695.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, 2006. "Small and medium-size enterprises: Access to finance as a growth constraint," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2931-2943, November.
    2. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    3. Iman Cheratian & Saleh Goltabar & Carla Daniela Calá, 2021. "Spatial drivers of firm entry in Iran," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(2), pages 463-496, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Alex Coad & Jacob Rubæk Holm & Jackie Krafft & Francesco Quatraro, 2018. "Firm age and performance," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-11, January.
    6. Robert E. Carpenter & Bruce C. Petersen, 2002. "Is The Growth Of Small Firms Constrained By Internal Finance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 298-309, May.
    7. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2014. "Financial constraints and firm dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 99-116, January.
    8. Armando Silva, 2011. "Financial Constraints and Exports: Evidence from Portuguese Manufacturing Firms," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 4(3), pages 7-19, December.
    9. Marc Cowling & Weixi Liu & Maria Minniti & Ning Zhang, 2016. "UK credit and discouragement during the GFC," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1049-1074, December.
    10. Mirjam Schiffer & Beatrice Weder, 2001. "Firm Size and the Business Environment : Worldwide Survey Results," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13988, April.
    11. Leitner Sandra M., 2016. "Financing Constraints and Firm Growth in Emerging Europe," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 18-40, April.
    12. Brambor, Thomas & Clark, William Roberts & Golder, Matt, 2006. "Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 63-82, January.
    13. Khan, Safi Ullah, 2022. "Financing constraints and firm-level responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: International evidence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    14. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    15. Goodell, John W., 2020. "COVID-19 and finance: Agendas for future research," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    16. Bengt Holmstrom & Jean Tirole, 1997. "Financial Intermediation, Loanable Funds, and The Real Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 663-691.
    17. Teresa C Fort & John Haltiwanger & Ron S Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2013. "How Firms Respond to Business Cycles: The Role of Firm Age and Firm Size," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(3), pages 520-559, August.
    18. Blandina Oliveira & Adelino Fortunato, 2006. "Firm Growth and Liquidity Constraints: A Dynamic Analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 139-156, October.
    19. Paul Westhead & David Storey, 1997. "Financial constraints on the growth of high technology small firms in the United Kingdom," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 197-201.
    20. Ghasseminejad, Saeed & Jahan-Parvar, Mohammad R., 2021. "The impact of financial sanctions: The case of Iran," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 601-621.
    21. Tsai, Kuen-Hung & Wang, Jiann-Chyuan, 2008. "External technology acquisition and firm performance: A longitudinal study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 91-112, January.
    22. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2014. "Financial constraints and firm dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 99-116, January.
    23. Qiu, Yue, 2019. "Labor Adjustment Costs and Risk Management," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 1447-1468, June.
    24. Quader, Syed Manzur, 2017. "Differential effect of liquidity constraints on firm growth," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 20-29.
    25. Sajad Ebrahimi, 2022. "Financial constraint and output pricing: the case of international sanctions against Iran," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 1219-1238, December.
    26. Flora Bellone & Patrick Musso & Lionel Nesta & Stefano Schiavo, 2010. "Financial Constraints and Firm Export Behaviour," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 347-373, March.
    27. Michele Battisti & Filippo Belloc & Massimo Gatto, 2021. "Is the productivity premium of internationalized firms technology-driven?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(6), pages 3069-3102, June.
    28. Cristiana Donati, 2016. "Firm growth and liquidity constraints: evidence from the manufacturing and service sectors in Italy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(20), pages 1881-1892, April.
    29. Annalisa Ferrando & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2018. "Financial constraints and productivity: Evidence from euro area companies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(3), pages 257-282, July.
    30. Boot, Arnoud W. A. & Carletti, Elena & Haselmann, Rainer & Kotz, Hans-Helmut & Krahnen, Jan Pieter & Pelizzon, Loriana & Schaefer, Stephen M. & Subrahmanyam, Marti G., 2020. "The Coronavirus and financial stability," SAFE Policy Letters 78, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    31. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    32. Michael Siemer, 2014. "Firm Entry and Employment Dynamics in the Great Recession," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2014-56, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    33. Vali Borimnejad & Sahar Dehyouri, 2022. "Content Analysis of the Economic Problems of Covid-19 Disease on Businesses: A Case Study of Tehran Province, Iran," Annals of Data Science, Springer, vol. 9(5), pages 1069-1083, October.
    34. Domenico Sarno, 2005. "Liquidity Constraint on the Production of Firms in Southern Italy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 133-146, September.
    35. Francesca Lotti & Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2003. "Does Gibrat's Law hold among young, small firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 213-235, August.
    36. Zoey Wong & Afei Chen & Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary & Rongrong Li & Qunxi Kong, 2023. "Financing Constraints and Firm’s Productivity Under the COVID-19 Epidemic Shock: Evidence of A-Shared Chinese Companies," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(1), pages 167-195, February.
    37. Meghana Ayyagari & Pedro Juarros & Maria Soledad Martinez Peria & Sandeep Singh, 2021. "Access to Finance and Job Growth: Firm-Level Evidence across Developing Countries [Big constraints to small firms’ growth? Business environment and employment growth across firms]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1473-1496.
    38. repec:bla:ecpoli:v:22:y:2007:i::p:731-779 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Sasan Bakhtiari & Robert Breunig & Lisa Magnani & Jacquelyn Zhang, 2020. "Financial Constraints and Small and Medium Enterprises: A Review," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 96(315), pages 506-523, December.
    40. Jan Bentzen & Erik Madsen & Valdemar Smith, 2012. "Do firms’ growth rates depend on firm size?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 937-947, November.
    41. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2013. "Like milk or wine: Does firm performance improve with age?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 173-189.
    42. 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.
    43. Cheratian, Iman & Goltabar, Saleh & Gholipour, Hassan F. & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza, 2024. "Finance and sales growth at the firms level in Iran: Does type of spending matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    44. Blonigen, Bruce A. & Tomlin, KaSaundra, 2001. "Size and growth of Japanese plants in the United States," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 931-952, May.
    45. Frederique Savignac, 2008. "Impact Of Financial Constraints On Innovation: What Can Be Learned From A Direct Measure?," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 553-569.
    46. Charlotte H. Watts & Patrick Vallance & Christopher J. M. Whitty, 2020. "Coronavirus: global solutions to prevent a pandemic," Nature, Nature, vol. 578(7795), pages 363-363, February.
    47. Amith Vikram Megaravalli & Gabriele Sampagnaro, 2018. "Firm age and liquidity ratio as predictors of firm growth: evidence from Indian firms," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(19), pages 1373-1375, November.
    48. A. Colin Cameron & Pravin K. Trivedi, 2010. "Microeconometrics Using Stata, Revised Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LLC, number musr, March.
    49. Syed Manzur Quader, 2017. "Differential effect of liquidity constraints on firm growth," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 20-29, January.
    50. Rahaman, Mohammad M., 2011. "Access to financing and firm growth," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 709-723, March.
    51. Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Phoumin, Han & Rasoulinezhad, Ehsan, 2022. "COVID-19 and regional solutions for mitigating the risk of SME finance in selected ASEAN member states," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 506-525.
    52. Peter Egger & Michaela Kesina, 2013. "Financial Constraints and Exports: Evidence from Chinese Firms," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 59(4), pages 676-706, December.
    53. Matthias Umkehrer, 2019. "The impact of declining youth employment stability on future wages," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 619-650, February.
    54. Yaya Koloma, 2021. "COVID‐19, financing and sales decline of informal sector MSMEs in Senegal," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(S1), pages 207-220, April.
    55. Mirgul Nizaeva & Ali Coskun, 2019. "Investigating the Relationship Between Financial Constraint and Growth of SMEs in South Eastern Europe," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Cheratian, Iman & Goltabar, Saleh & Gholipour, Hassan F. & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza, 2024. "Finance and sales growth at the firms level in Iran: Does type of spending matter?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    2. Iman Cheratian & Saleh Goltabar & Hassan Gholipour Fereidouni & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2023. "External Financing and Firm Growth: Evidence from Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Iran," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202308, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    3. Segarra Blasco, Agustí, 1958- & Teruel, Mercedes, 2010. "Are small firms more sensitive to financial variables?," Working Papers 2072/151623, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    4. Sasan Bakhtiari & Robert Breunig & Lisa Magnani & Jacquelyn Zhang, 2020. "Financial Constraints and Small and Medium Enterprises: A Review," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 96(315), pages 506-523, December.
    5. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Post-entry Performance of Newborn Firms in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 277-305.
    6. Nina Ponikvar & Katja Zajc Kejžar & Darja Peljhan, 2018. "The role of financial constraints for alternative firm exit modes," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 85-103, June.
    7. Calabrese, G.G. & Falavigna, G. & Ippoliti, R., 2024. "Financial constraints prediction to lead socio-economic development: An application of neural networks to the Italian market," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    8. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Entry and Post-Entry Dynamics in Developing Countries," GREDEG Working Papers 2013-20, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    9. Malik, Muhammad Farhan & Nowland, John & Buckby, Sherrena, 2021. "Voluntary adoption of board risk committees and financial constraints risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Quatraro, Francesco & Vivarelli, Marco, 2013. "Entrepreneurship In A Developing Country Context," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201314, University of Turin.
    11. Didier, Tatiana & Levine, Ross & Llovet Montanes, Ruth & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2021. "Capital market financing and firm growth," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    12. Edoardo Ferrucci & Roberto Guida & Valentina Meliciani, 2021. "Financial constraints and the growth and survival of innovative start‐ups: An analysis of Italian firms," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 27(2), pages 364-386, March.
    13. Keuschnigg, Christian & Ribi, Evelyn, 2009. "Profit Taxation and Finance Constraints," CEPR Discussion Papers 7433, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Christian Keuschnigg & Evelyn Ribi, 2013. "Profit taxes and financing constraints," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(5), pages 808-826, October.
    15. Johan Karlsson, 2021. "Firm size and growth barriers: a data-driven approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1319-1338, October.
    16. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.
    17. Nurullah Gur, 2012. "Financial Constraints, Quality of Institutions and Firm Size: What Do Perceptions Tell Us?," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 2(2), pages 17-36, December.
    18. Trang Hoai Phan & Rainer Stachuletz & Hai Thi Hong Nguyen, 2022. "Export Decision and Credit Constraints under Institution Obstacles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-27, May.
    19. Chiara Coluzzi & Annalisa Ferrando & Carmen Martínez-Carrascal, 2009. "Financing obstacles and growth: An analysis for euro area non-financial corporations," Working Papers 0836, Banco de España.
    20. Mirgul Nizaeva & Ali Coskun, 2019. "Investigating the Relationship Between Financial Constraint and Growth of SMEs in South Eastern Europe," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, September.

    More about this item

    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:erg:wpaper:1695. 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: Namees Nabeel (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/erfaceg.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.