Politically Connected Firms in Poland and Their Access to Bank Financing

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between politically connected firms and their access to bank financing in a post-communist eras in Poland. Overall, it finds that “recent” political connections do influence access to bank financing and the value of such connections increased during the financial crisis. However, it also observes that the positive relationship mentioned above is substantially weaker in Poland relative to other emerging countries and we attribute this phenomenon to the instability of the Polish political climate.

Keywords: political connections, bank financing, global financial crisis

JEL Classification: GO1, G18, G32