The Impact of Directed Lending Programs on the Credit Access of Small Businesses in India: A Firm-level Study

This paper studies the impact of a policy package aimed at increasing access to bank credit of small firms at the national level in India. In 2006, the Government of India expanded the pool of small firms eligible for directed credit under a nation-wide credit program, by changing the criterion that determined the small business status of firms across all industries. Exploiting the expansion in the pool of small firms eligible for directed lending, I analyze the crowding out of previously eligible firms by recently eligible firms. I also study the growth in credit experienced by small firms from sources other than bank credit. I find that recently eligible firms not only disproportionately increased their bank credit stock relative to previously eligible firms, but also increased borrowings from other sources of credit. In other words, I find no evidence of substitution of other forms of credit with bank loans for recently eligible firms.