IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/kbawps/340174.html

Cost of credit, digital finance and bank capital: Implications for MSME lending and performance in Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Tiriongo, Samuel
  • Mulindi, Hillary
  • Nyagaka, Hesborn
  • Milimo, Davis

Abstract

The study examines how cost of credit, digital finance and bank capital shape MSME lending and performance in Kenya. Using FinAccess 2024 microdata and bank-level panel data (2011-2024), we estimate a control-function Probit, Mundlak Random Effects Logit and System-GMM model. Results show that perceived high borrowing costs are endogenous to loan access, but become insignificant once corrected. Firm age, size, formalization and female ownership significantly improve loan access. Digital finance usage for business transactions increases approval probabilities, while urban location widens access gaps. On the supply side, capital adequacy significantly anchors sustainable loan growth. Overall, MSME performance is driven more by structural firm characteristics and credit supply conditions than by cost perceptions alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Tiriongo, Samuel & Mulindi, Hillary & Nyagaka, Hesborn & Milimo, Davis, 2026. "Cost of credit, digital finance and bank capital: Implications for MSME lending and performance in Kenya," KBA Centre for Research on Financial Markets and Policy Working Paper Series 95, Kenya Bankers Association (KBA).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:kbawps:340174
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/340174/1/1969202505.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    2. Shekhar Aiyar & Charles W. Calomiris & Tomasz Wieladek, 2014. "Identifying channels of credit substitution when bank capital requirements are varied [Which financial frictions? Parsing the evidence from the financial crisis]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 29(77), pages 45-77.
    3. Gambacorta, Leonardo & Shin, Hyun Song, 2018. "Why bank capital matters for monetary policy," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 35(PB), pages 17-29.
    4. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    5. Douglas W. Diamond & Philip H. Dybvig, 2000. "Bank runs, deposit insurance, and liquidity," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 24(Win), pages 14-23.
    6. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    7. Peek, Joe & Rosengren, Eric, 1995. "The Capital Crunch: Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(3), pages 625-638, August.
    8. repec:bla:ecpoli:v:29:y:2014:i:77:p:45-77 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Gourène, Grakolet & Brixiová Schwidrowski, Zuzana & Balcar, Jiří & Filipová, Lenka Johnson, 2025. "How credit constrained are family-owned SMEs in Arab countries?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    11. Nirosha Hewa Wellalage & Stuart Locke, 2016. "Informality and credit constraints: evidence from Sub-Saharan African MSEs," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(29), pages 2756-2770, June.
    12. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    13. Shekhar Aiyar & Charles W. Calomiris & Tomasz Wieladek, 2014. "Does Macro‐Prudential Regulation Leak? Evidence from a UK Policy Experiment," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(s1), pages 181-214, February.
    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. Samuel Fosu & Albert Danso & Henry Agyei-Boapeah & Collins G. Ntim & Emmanuel Adegbite, 2020. "Credit information sharing and loan default in developing countries: the moderating effect of banking market concentration and national governance quality," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 55-103, July.
    2. Brei, Michael & Jacolin, Luc & Noah, Alphonse, 2020. "Credit risk and bank competition in Sub-Saharan Africa," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    3. Simona Malovaná & Dominika Ehrenbergerová, 2022. "The effect of higher capital requirements on bank lending: the capital surplus matters," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(3), pages 793-832, August.
    4. Samuel Fosu & Albert Danso & Henry Agyei‐Boapeah & Collins G. Ntim, 2021. "Credit information sharing and bank loan pricing: Do concentration and governance matter?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5884-5911, October.
    5. Martinsson, Gustav, 2009. "Finance and R&D Investments - is there a debt overhang effect on R&D investments?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 174, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    6. Kanga, Désiré & Murinde, Victor & Soumaré, Issouf, 2020. "Capital, risk and profitability of WAEMU banks: Does bank ownership matter?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    7. Jacques Mairesse & Bronwyn H. Hall & Benoît Mulkay, 1999. "Firm-Level Investment in France and the United States: An Exploration of What We Have Learned in Twenty Years," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 55-56, pages 27-67.
    8. Klein, Paul-Olivier & Turk-Ariss, Rima, 2022. "Bank capital and economic activity," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    9. George Kladakis & Lei Chen & Sotirios K. Bellos, 2022. "Wholesale funding and liquidity creation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1501-1524, November.
    10. Laptieva, Nataliia, 2016. "Information sharing and the volume of private credit in transition: Evidence from Ukrainian bank-level panel dataAuthor-Name: Grajzl, Peter," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 434-449.
    11. Ongo Nkoa, Bruno Emmanuel & Ewolo Bitoto, Fabrice & Bikoula Minkoe, Séraphin Brice, 2024. "Resource dependence and life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa: Does financial sector stability break the curse?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    12. A. Burietz & L. Ureche-Rangau, 2020. "Better the devil you know: Home and sectoral biases in bank lending," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 164, pages 69-85.
    13. Šeho, Mirzet & Bacha, Obiyathulla Ismath & Smolo, Edib, 2024. "Bank financing diversification, market structure, and stability in a dual-banking system," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    14. Zouaoui, Haykel & Zoghlami, Feten, 2020. "On the income diversification and bank market power nexus in the MENA countries: Evidence from a GMM panel-VAR approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    15. Altunbas, Yener & Gambacorta, Leonardo & Marques-Ibanez, David, 2009. "Securitisation and the bank lending channel," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(8), pages 996-1009, November.
    16. Šeho, Mirzet & Bacha, Obiyathulla Ismath & Smolo, Edib, 2020. "The effects of interest rate on Islamic bank financing instruments: Cross-country evidence from dual-banking systems," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    17. Thorsten Beck & Robin Döttling & Thomas Lambert & Mathijs Dijk, 2023. "Liquidity creation, investment, and growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 297-336, June.
    18. Vinogradov, Dmitri & Makhlouf, Yousef, 2021. "Two faces of financial systems: Provision of services versus shock-smoothing," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    19. Jeongsim Kim, 2018. "Bank Competition And Financial Stability: Liquidity Risk Perspective," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(2), pages 337-362, April.
    20. Abaab, Malek & Drira, Mohamed & Helali, Kamel, 2025. "Regime-switching model estimates the impact of bank liquidity on bank performance across G20 countries: a moderate role for solvency, total loans, and total debt," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).

    More about this item

    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:kbawps:340174. 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://www.kba.co.ke/about_research_center.php .

    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.