Purpose Using the small-business loan market, this paper aims to test whether a structural shift in access to borrowers’ financial information (i.e. credit ratings) improves market efficiency, thereby improving entrepreneurs’ access to external capital. Design/methodology/approach This...

Small businesses have long relied upon banks to produce sufficient information to be able to profitably lend to them. In recent years information production has also taken place among information service bureaus, such as Dun and Bradstreet (D&B). There has been some evidence to suggest that...