This dissertation studies topics in the areas of corporate finance and economic development. The first chapter, entitled Capital Quality, Productivity, and Financial Constraints: Evidence from India is co-authored with Poorya Kabir. We provide novel evidence that reduced financial constraints increase physical capital quality and, consequently, productivity. We use a project-level investment dataset from India, CapEx, with data on project cost, capacity added to the firm, and investment's product category. We measure physical capital quality using Unit Investment Cost (UIC), defined as the project cost divided by the additional capacity. We find UIC displays significant variation across firms and is substantially associated with productivity and output quality. However, higher-quality physical capital is more expensive, and without sufficient internal funds, firms cannot invest in them. We study a policy, the establishment of Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRT), which has generated staggered variation in access to external debt financing across different Indian states. We find that firms in treated states borrowed and invested more with all the increased investment coming from an increase in UIC and not from increased additional capacity. Furthermore, treated firms increased productivity and output quality, consistent with the hypothesis that a higher UIC induced by greater access to finance increased firm productivity and output quality. The effect of DRTs establishment is stronger in firms that rely more on external financing and industries with more scope for quality differentiation, a result that further supports this hypothesis. Available evidence suggests that other channels do not completely explain the increased productivity and output quality. Overall, this paper finds physical capital quality is an important determinant of productivity and output quality, and a firm's choice of physical capital quality depends on the availability of financing. The second chapter, entitled Credit Supply and Entrepreneurship in Low-Income Regions is co-authored with Mehran Ebrahimian. We show that bank credit affects entrepreneurship, but only in low-income regions. We present a novel methodology to identify credit supply shock from regional demand shock using comprehensive data on small business loans between pairs of banks and counties in the US. While there is no impact in top income quartile counties, we document that a one std credit shock is associated with 1.6 and 1.7 percentage point employment and payroll growth in newborn firms in bottom income quartile counties. We show that this impact is long-lasting; is pronounced only in newborn firms; is not just a redistribution of labor from established to newborn firms; and does not follow with a reduction in labor productivity. We estimate that a credit redistribution of $100 from high- to low-income counties results in at least $6.5 annual labor earnings in aggregate. In the third chapter, entitled Repair and Maintenance, Investment, and Financial Constraints, I study the role of repair and maintenance cost in capital accumulation which has been mostly ignored in finance and investment literature. I show that repair and maintenance cost is large relative to investment, persistent, and could substitute investment in some circumstances. Empirically I find that the repair and maintenance cost relative to the stock of capital is substantially higher for small and financially constrained firms. I claim that cheap upfront repair and maintenance activity makes it attractive to financially constrained firms. A stylized model of financially constrained firms with endogenous choice of maintenance vs. investment rationalizes the empirical findings. Overall, this paper introduces firm-level maintenance cost data to the literature, investigates its relation to investment, and documents several empirical properties of repair and maintenance costs.

The problem of credit rationing/borrowing constraint has recently received considerable attention. Individuals who are denied any credit by a financial institution, or who find it difficult to borrow against future incomes, are said to be credit rationed or borrowing constrained in the credit markets. This dissertation tries to identify the circumstances under which individuals may be rationed (or not), and analyses the actions undertaken to overcome future constraints. Chapter 2 analyses the problem of credit rationing as it arises in equilibrium, when borrowers differ with respect to their demands for loans. It is shown that if the principal can costlessly observe the agent’s type, then (i) the agents who meet the collateral requirements are not rationed in the sense of Stiglitz-Weiss (1981), (ii) the agents who do not meet the collateral requirements are rationed in the sense of Jaffee-Russell (1976). We further show that if the principal cannot distinguish between different agents, then the previous rationing results still hold in the second best contract which is pooling : agents of different types pick the same contract. Chapter 3 analyses the problem of credit rationing as it emerges in a dynamic setting, when a renegotiation of the original contract may be undertaken. It is conjectured that (i) the principal uses the information revealed about an agent’s type at the time of first repayment, to design future contracts, (ii) the agents who show consistently honest behavior are never rationed, (iii) the agents who showed dishonest behavior impose a negative externality on the agents who were honest; they are rationed in later periods. Finally, in chapter 3, we analyse the role of an exogenously imposed borrowing constraint prompting the individuals to change their life-cycle decisions. This chapter provides an explicit link between human and non-human wealth by making income endogenous through investment in human capital. The chapter also discusses the econometric aspects of the problem: the possible empirical work that can be undertaken in the future using a micro data set. / Ph. D.

No description available.

by Lee Yuen-wah Teresa and Tsui Wai-lim. / Bibliography: leaves 39-40 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984

Credit risk mitigation that can be applied by commercial banks in assessing the lending decision /credit risk when advances and equity investments are considered for BEE classified companies. / A research report presented to the Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa / The previous political dispensation limited black people’s participation in the South African economy. Poor credit records, lack of training, resulting in skills and capacity gaps further limited entry into the lending market. These aspects are considered the main limitations in obtaining finance for the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). This research report focuses on how credit risk can be mitigated by commercial banks in lending to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) companies in the medium to large market. Exploratory research was conducted using various methods to achieve methodological triangulation. These methods consisted of a literature review, interviewing experts in the field and case studies. A qualitative research approach was followed. It was found that the lack of own contribution and security were still prevalent in the medium to large market, but the quality of management (little training and skills) was deemed not to be a limitation as suitable credit risk mitigants were identified. No credit risk mitigants were identified to mitigate poor credit records. It is postulated that by adopting and applying the identified credit risk mitigants, commercial banks can increase their success rate in lending to BEE companies. It will further assist in the transformation of black people and compliance with the Financial Services Charter. It is recommended that a similar study be conducted in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing industry. The reasons why BEE companies applications are declined could also be investigated. Further studies could also explore other external factors such as economical, legal and social that could have an influence on the funding of BEE companies.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Frågeställning: Hur ser bankernas kreditbedömning för små och medelstora företag ut och hur kommer den att förändras i och med införandet av de nya regelverken K2 och K3? Hur resonerar banker vid kreditbedömning när företag redovisar enligt K2 och K3?Vill bankerna styra åt en viss tillämpning eller önskar de rapportering på basis av den löpande bokföringen? Syfte: Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka och analysera bankers kreditbedömning för små och medelstora företag, samt vilken påverkan kreditbedömningen kommer få efter införandet av de nya redovisningsregelverken. Metod: Studien hade en deduktiv forskningsansats och metoden var kvalitativ. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes som datainsamlingsmetod. Empirin analyserades med hjälp av den referensram som blev insamlad under en litteraturstudie och en artikelsökning. Slutsats: Studien visade att kreditbedömningens utgångspunkt är väldigt lika för de undersökta bankerna. Bankernas kreditbedömning har ännu inte påverkats av de nya regelverken K2 och K3 men det kan ändras i framtiden. Bankerna vill framförallt ha tillräckligt med underlag från företagen så att de kan göra en bra kreditbedömning. / Research questions: How does the banks credit assessment for SMEs look like and how will it change with the introduction of the new regulations K2 and K3? How do banks reason at credit assessment when companies report according to K2 and K3? Would banks steer to a particular application or do they wish to get reports on the basis of the daily accounting? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze banks’ credit assessment for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the impact of credit assessment due to the new accounting regulations. Method: The study had a deductive research approach and the methodology was qualitative. Semi-structured interviews were carried out as a data collection method. The empirical data were analyzed using the reference frame which was collected in a literature search and an article search. Conclusion: The study outcome shows that the credit assessment starting point is very alike from the examined banks. The banks credit assessment process has not been affected due to introduction of the new regulations K2 and K3 although it can change in future context. The banks want, above all, to have enough material from the companies so that they can make a good credit assessment.

This thesis studies the Chinese banks’ credit risk assessment using the Post Keynesian approach. We argue that bank loans are the major financial sources in emerging economies and it is uncertainty, an unquantifiable risk, rather than asymmetric information about quantifiable risk, as held by the mainstream approach, which is most important for the risk attached to credit loans, and this uncertainty is particularly important in China. With the universal existence of uncertainty, borrowers and lenders have to make decisions based on convention and experience. With regard to the nature of decision-making, this implies the importance of qualitative methods rather than quantitative methods. The current striking problem in Chinese banking is the large amount of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) and this research aims to address the NPLs through improving credit risk management. Rather than the previous literature where Western models are introduced into China directly or with minor modification, this work advocates building on China’s conventional domestic methods to deal with uncertainty. We briefly review the background of the Chinese banking history with an evolutionary view and examine Chinese conventions in the development of the credit market. Based on an overview of this history, it is argued that Soft Budget Constraints (SBC) and the underdeveloped risk-assessing mechanism contributed to the accumulation of NPLs. Informed by Western models and experience, we have made several suggestions about rebuilding the Chinese convention of credit risk assessment, based on an analysis of publications and interviews with Chinese bankers. We also suggest some further development of the Asset Management Companies (AMCs) which are used to dispose of the NPLs.

This study uses concurrent verbal protocol analysis to examine the decision processes of lenders as they evaluate the financial information of a loan applicant. Of specific interest is the lenders' use of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards Board No. 95 (FAS 95), Statement of Cash Flows, in that decision process.

Crowdfunding as it looks today has had rapid growth in popularity as a financing alternative for start-ups. By seeking capital from a large number of private investors who will invest a smaller amount of money, the financing market has changed and access to capital has increased. This study has made a comparison between the different funding options. The aim of this study is to compare the development of companies financed by crowdfunding against companies traditionally financed to evaluate which approach is the strongest. Furthermore, the authors intend to identify risks with crowdfunding and to observe trends. The study has been conducted through a quantitative method with a deductive approach where the data is collected mostly from the companies annual reports. The result of the study shows that the companies that are traditionally financed have a higher level of sales and sales growth. One trend that the study has shown is that after the company's first two years, sales, sales growth and operating profit from companies financed through crowdfunding begin to decline.