SME Steeplechase: When Obtaining Money Is Harder Than Innovating

GUERCIO, M. BELÉN; MARTINEZ, LISANA B.; BARIVIERA, AURELIO F.

International Journal of Financial Studies

IJFS Editorial Office

Año: 2019 vol. 7 p. 1 - 14

In this paper, we analyze the main characteristics of European Small and MediumEnterprises (SMEs), related to the demand for and access to external financial resources. We usemicrodata from an extensive database, elaborated by the European Central Bank and the EuropeanCommission: the Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises. Firstly, we consider a set of variablesas determinants to the decision to apply for different financial instruments. Secondly, we use the sameset of variables to analyze the actual access to these instruments. For each regression, several SMEsprofiles were created, in order to detect SMEs archetypes according to their decisions. The results arethought-provoking, and highlight that differences in firms characteristics (size, innovative activities,etc.), influence not only the access to, but also the demand for external finance.