Determinants of Credit Rationing for Corporate Farms in Russia

The Russian establishment- politicians, agricultural officials, corporate farm managers, the media- firmly believe that inadequate access to credit is one of the major factors constraining the growth of the agricultural sector. In technical terms, they in effect claim that Russian agriculture faces credit rationing. In this article, we apply discrete regression analysis to study the determinants of access to credit for corporate farms, without addressing the issue of whether or not the actual borrowing is sufficient for the farms' needs. Our analysis shows that factors reflecting economic efficiency are the main determinants of access to credit. On the other hand, asset endowments, such as land and capital stock, have a very weak effect on the ability to borrow. Our findings caution against generalizing the conventional financial patterns of market economies to transition countries.