Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Firms: Is There an East-West Gap in Germany?
18 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2004
There are 2 versions of this paper
Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Firms: Is There an East-West Gap in Germany?
Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Firms: Is There an East-West Gap in Germany?
Abstract
The financing of small and medium-sized firms is important for the catching-up of the East German to the West German economy since reunification. We explore whether it is restricted by unfavorable bank loan terms, using bank-survey data on lending decisions to small and medium-sized firms. A comparison of the terms of lending between the former East German and West German states yields a lending gap given by higher loan prices and collateral requirements in East Germany. This gap can be explained by differences in credit risks and lending strategies of banks.
Keywords: Bank lending, small and medium-sized firms, credit risks, collateral, German reunification
JEL Classification: G21, 016, R1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Relationship Lending and Lines of Credit in Small Firm Finance
By Allen N. Berger and Gregory F. Udell
-
Lines of Credit and Relationship Lending in Small Firm Finance
By Allen N. Berger and Gregory F. Udell
-
Information Production and Capital Allocation: Decentralized vs. Hierarchical Firms
-
Information Production and Capital Allocation: Decentralized vs. Hierarchical Firms
-
Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending
-
Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending
-
By Allen N. Berger, Philip E. Strahan, ...
-
By Allen N. Berger, Nathan Miller, ...
-
By Allen N. Berger, Nathan Miller, ...
-
By Allen N. Berger and Gregory F. Udell