Measurement and Determinants of Access to Loans

39 Pages Posted: 23 Apr 2013

See all articles by Christa Hainz

Christa Hainz

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute

Tatjana Nabokin

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)

Date Written: April 23, 2013

Abstract

Measuring and identifying financial constraints represents an important challenge in empirical studies. Due to data limitations perception-based indicators or approximations of access to finance by the usage of finance are often used, disregarding firm-specific differences in the demand for external finance. Using unique firm-level survey data, which provide information on a firm’s credit demand, we develop a direct measurement for access to credit and provide for the first time an empirical evaluation of these methods. We find that information on the usage of credit is not sufficient to identify financially constrained firms, while perception based indicators are surprisingly precise. The paper concludes by presenting recommendations for future survey design.

Keywords: access to finance, usage of finance, credit demand, perceived access to finance

JEL Classification: G210, O160

Suggested Citation

Hainz, Christa and Nabokin, Tatjana, Measurement and Determinants of Access to Loans (April 23, 2013). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 4190, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2255340 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2255340

Christa Hainz (Contact Author)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, 81069
Germany

Tatjana Nabokin

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) ( email )

Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1
Munich, DE Bavaria 80539
Germany

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