Access to finance of independent SMEs in Luxembourg. The consequences of the crisis.

This paper analyses the availability of external funding for Luxembourgish independent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) before and during the crisis. SMEs represent a large part of the private sector in Luxembourg. External finance is essential to enable firms to invest in order to increase their productivity, innovate and create employment. Data used come from the Access to Finance (ATF) survey conducted by STATEC in 2010 and coordinated by Eurostat. This paper provides some stylized facts on access to finance in Luxembourg. It presents results from a regression analysis on how the individual characteristics, the past behavior and the business environment perception affect the decision about whether or not to seek external finance. The results of estimations show that past behavior is the most important determinant of seeking finance. Particular emphasis is placed on assessing the consequences of the 2007-2010 recession by introducing variables related to changes in perception between 2007 and 2010 and growth constraints.