SME Finance

My interest in SME finance goes back to my days at the World Bank and I have been actively involved in the research and policy debate since then; moving beyond providing evidence for the firm size gap in access to finance to identifying specific lending techniques and business models to improve SMEs’ access to finance.  Among other initiatives, I also was a juror in the G20 SME Finance Challenge.  I am currently a leading researcher in a DFID-financed project on Innovation and Growth in ten low-income countries, focusing on SME Finance. I am also leading an impact study of the European Fund for Southeast Europe for Armenia, Montenegro and Serbia.

Foreigners vs. Natives: Bank Lending Technologies and Loan Pricing, with Vasso Ioannidou and Larissa Schäfer, Management Science 64, 3792-3820, 2018.

Keep Walking? Geographical Proximity, Religion and Relationship Banking, with Steven Ongena and Ilkay Sendeniz-Yuncu, Journal of Corporate Finance, 2019, 55, 49-68

When Arm’s Length Is Too Far. Relationship Banking over the Credit Cycle, with Hans Degryse, Ralph De Haas and Neeltje van Horen, Journal of Financial Economics 127,   176-194, 2018

SME Finance in Africa, with Robert Cull, Journal of African Economies 23, 583-613, 2014.

Bank Financing for SMEs - Lessons from the Literature, National Institute Economic Review 225, R23-R38, 2013.

Bank Financing for SMEs: Evidence Across Countries and Bank Ownership Types, with A.Demirgüç-Kunt and Maria Soledad Martinez Peria, Journal of Financial Services Research 39, 35-54, 2011.

SME Finance: What have We Learned and What Do We still Need to Learn? Chapter in World Economic Forum Financial Development Report 2010.

Finance, Firm Size, and Growth, with A. Demirgüç-Kunt , L. Laeven and R. Levine, Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 40(7), 2008, pp. 1379-1405. Data (Stata)
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Financing Patterns around the World: Are Small Firms Different? , with A. Demirgüç-Kunt and V. Maksimovic, Journal of Financial Economics 89(3), 2008, pp. 467-487.

Small and Medium Enterprises across the Globe, with A. Demirgüç-Kunt and M. Ayyagari, Small Business Economics 29, December 2007, pp. 415-34.
Data

The Influence of Financial and Legal Institutions on Firm Size, with A. Demirgüç-Kunt and V. Maksimovic, Journal of Banking and Finance 30, November 2006, pp. 2995-3015.

Small and Medium-Size Enterprises: Access to Finance as a Growth Constraint, with A. Demirgüç-Kunt, Journal of Banking and Finance 30, November 2006, 2931-2943.

The Determinants of Financing Obstacles, with A. Demirgüç-Kunt , L. Laeven and V. Maksimovic, Journal of International Money and Finance 25, October 2006, pp. 932-52.

SMEs, Growth and Poverty, Cross Country Evidence, with A. Demirgüç-Kunt and R. Levine, Journal of Economic Growth 10, September 2005, pp. 197-227.

Financial and Legal Constraints to Firm Growth: Does Size Matter?,  with A. Demirgüç-Kunt, and V. Maksimovic, Journal of Finance 60, February 2004, pp. 137-177.