We study financial constraints new firms suffer from in France during the mid-nineties. Three types of constraints are distinguished: the classic and well-known weak and strong credit rationing and the new concept of self-rationing bound to the theory of discouraged borrowers. We look for these...

Summary The French financial system has undergone major changes in the last twenty years. Until the beginning of the eighties, the French financial system was a State credit based system. This system was overhauled in the mid eighties under the pressure of French budget deficits in the context...