We use data from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys to test the importance of governance to the availability of credit. We model the credit-allocation process for SMEs in three steps. Based upon these steps, we classify small businesses into four groups based upon their credit needs – firms...

The percentage of out-of-market loan originations to small businesses, as measured by both amounts and number, have been trending upward over the past two decades. The percentage of out-of-market loan originations to small businesses, as measured by both amounts and number, declined when...

In the U.S., individual parties who file for bankruptcy can exempt a certain dollar amount of property from creditor liquidation during the debt settlement process. We examine the effect of changes to these protection laws on bank lending to small businesses. Our results indicate that additional...

This study analyzes differences by gender in the ownership of privately held U.S. firms and examines the role of gender in the availability of credit. Using data from the nationally representative Surveys of Small Business Finances, which span a period of sixteen years, we document a series of...