Small- and Medium-Size Enterprise Financing in Eastern Europe

Klapper, Leora F. ; Sarria-Allende, Virginia ; Sulla, Victor

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: SMALL & MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES;    ENTERPRISE SUPPORT;    FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION;    EQUITY FINANCE;    DEBT FINANCING;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2933
RP-ID  :  WPS2933

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

There is currently a large interest inunderstanding firms' access to finance, particularly inthe financing of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).But the financing patterns of SMEs across countries is notwell understood. For example, little is known about therelative importance of equity, debt, and inter-firmfinancing for SMEs across countries. The authors use theAmadeus database, which includes financial information onover 97,000 private and publicly traded firms in 15 Easternand Central European countries. The Amadeus database allowsthe authors the opportunity to provide a new analysis of thegeneral financing patterns of private firms across a largesample of Eastern European countries. The summary statisticsshow that the size of the SME sector (as measured by thepercentage of total employment) in Eastern Europeancountries is smaller than in most developed economies.Although the authors find in almost every country in thesample a large number of SMEs as a percentage of totalfirms, the SMEs in Eastern Europe are generally small andhire few employees. However, SMEs seem to constitute themost dynamic sector of the Eastern European economies,relative to large firms. In general, the SME sectorcomprises relatively younger, more highly leveraged, andmore profitable and faster growing firms. This suggests thata new type of firm is emerging in transition economies thatis more market- and profit-oriented. But at the same time,these firms appear to have financial constraints that impedetheir access to long-term financing and ability to grow.