Yes / This study investigates bank financing to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and evaluates whether the difficulties of SMEs in accessing bank financing during a period of financial crisis are due to a reduction in the supply of credit, or to a decrease in the demand for credit. The results show that the macroeconomic setting matters: demand effects are unlikely to drive the decline in the stock of bank loans, while the supply of credit causes SMEs difficulties in accessing bank credit. During a crisis period, in particular, an increase in the risk of lenders leads to the reduced supply of credit and credit rationing (i.e. the bank lending channel). In a post-crisis period, SMEs with increased risk and decreased profits have great difficulties in securing bank loans (i.e. the borrower balance sheet channel). Taken together, these results suggest that supply effects initially emerge through the bank-lending channel and then shift to the borrower balance sheet channel over a period of financial crisis.

Nos últimos anos, o Brasil tem apresentado um crescimento acelerado do crédito ao setor privado, atingindo uma taxa de crescimento real acima de 20% ao ano entre 2006 e 2008. Uma questão importante é saber se esse aumento recente do crédito no país pode ser justificado pelo baixo nível inicial de financiamentos e, também, pelas diversas mudanças no ambiente macroeconômico e microeconômico no período, ou se, caso contrário, esse crescimento pode ser considerado exagerado, com possíveis riscos à economia. Este trabalho se propõe a utilizar duas metodologias complementares e muito utilizadas na literatura para a identificação de booms de crédito: um método univariado de séries temporais, baseado nos desvios das séries de crédito em relação a sua tendência de longo-prazo, e um método multivariado, no qual busca explicar o nível de crédito ou o crescimento dele em função dos fundamentos econômicos. Os resultados encontrados indicam que ainda há espaços para o crescimento do crédito no Brasil, porém, um sinal de atenção é dado em relação à taxa de expansão observada do crédito, uma vez que, nos últimos anos, esta se apresentou um pouco elevada, ainda que nenhum sinal claro de boom tenha sido observado. Por fim, outro fato importante encontrado é a questão da recente crise econômica ter contribuído não apenas para aumentar o debate da sustentabilidade da expansão do crédito no Brasil, como também, parece ter contido os excessos nas taxas de crescimento que começavam a ser observados no final de 2007. / In recent years, Brazil has experienced rapid growth in credit to private sector, achieving a real growth rate of above 20% per year between 2006 and 2008. An important question is whether this recent increase in domestic credit can be justified by the low initial level of lending, and also by the various changes in macroeconomic and microeconomic environment in the period, or if, otherwise, this growth can be considered exaggerated, with potential risks to the economy. This paper proposes to use two complementary and widely-used methodologies in the literature of identifying credit booms: an univariate method of time series, based on deviations of the credit series in relation to its long-term tendency, and a multivariate method, which seeks to explain the level of credit or its growth as a function of economic fundamentals. The results indicate that there is still some space for credit growth in Brazil, however, a warning sign is given in relation to the rate of credit expansion observed in recent years, which has appeared a bit high, even though no clear sign of boom has been observed. Finally, another important fact found is the issue of the recent economic crisis that has contributed not only to the increase in the sustainability debate of credit expansion in Brazil, but also seems to have contained the excesses in growth rates that began to be observed at the end of 2007.

La question du financement des Petites et Moyennes entreprises est récurrente partout dans le monde. Elle est encore plus préoccupante en Afrique subsaharienne, alors même que les PME apparaissent comme des acteurs clés pour sortir du sous-développement. Au Sénégal les pouvoirs publics cherchent depuis plusieurs années des solutions pour améliorer l’accès des PME au financement bancaire. Cependant, le problème de financement bancaire demeure le principal obstacle au développement des PME. C’est dans ce sens que nous nous sommes demandé pourquoi les PME sénégalaises rencontrent autant de difficultés à accéder au financement bancaire. L’objectif de notre recherche est d’identifier les facteurs susceptibles d’influencer l’obtention de financement bancaire pour une PME sénégalaise. Notre première phase de recherche a été de faire un état des lieux de la littérature et des études empiriques sur le financement des PME. Sur cette base, nous avons élaboré nos hypothèses de recherche que nous avons testées selon une méthode de recherche mixte. D’une part nous avons adopté une démarche quantitative en élaborant un questionnaire soumis à des dirigeants de PME ; d’autre part nous avons adopté une démarche qualitative en menant des entretiens avec 10 agents de banque et 10 dirigeants de PME. L’analyse de nos hypothèses donne les résultats principaux suivants : l’existence de liens forts positifs entre la disponibilité de garantie, la qualité des documents comptables, la taille de la PME d’une part, et l’obtention de financement bancaire d’autre part ; l’adoption du financement relationnel ainsi que l’existence de relations interpersonnelles favorisent l’accès au financement bancaire. Nos résultats confortent des études antérieures effectuées dans d’autres contextes et peuvent faire l’objet de recommandations aux dirigeants de PME, aux banques et aux pouvoirs publics. / The issue of financing small and medium-sized enterprises is recurrent all over the world. It is even more worrying in sub-Saharan Africa where the SME sector is the chance to get out of underdevelopment. In Senegal, public authorities have been seeking solutions for several years to improve SMEs' access to bank financing. However, the problem of bank financing remains the main obstacle to the development of SMEs. So, we wondered why Senegalese SMEs encounter so many difficulties in accessing bank financing. The objective of our research is to identify the factors likely to influence the obtaining of bank financing for a Senegalese SME. On the basis of a review the literature, we developed our research hypotheses that we tested using a mixed search method. On the one hand we adopted a quantitative approach by developing a questionnaire submitted to SME managers; on the other hand, we have adopted a qualitative approach by conducting interviews with 10 bank agents and 10 SME managers. The analysis of our assumptions shows the following main results: the existence of strong positive links between the availability of guarantee, the quality of the book-keeping, the size of the SME on the one hand, and the obtaining of bank financing; the adoption of relational financing and the existence of interpersonal relationships favor access to bank financing. Our results support previous studies in other contexts and can be the subject of recommendations to SME managers, banks and the public authorities.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how well Swedish banks’ follow the interest rate development of Swedish Treasury Bills and Swedish Government Bonds when they are determining the levels for their deposit and lending rates. Individuals’ deposits in a bank serves as one of the banks main assets in the balance sheet, and the spread between the bank’s deposit rate and the short-term market rate is a large source of funding for the bank. If there is a strong relationship of this spread over time, one may assume that this spread is of great importance for financing of the banking firm. The spread between the bank’s lending rate and the long-term market rate – credit risk spread – also serves a large source of interest income for the bank, and if this relationship is strong over time, one may assume that this spread is of great importance for financing of the banking firm as well. The banks subjected for investigation in this paper are Handelsbanken (SHB) and Föreningssparbanken (FSB). This paper finds a weaker relationship between the banks’ deposit rates and the short-term market rates, than for the lending rates and the long-term market rates. This indicates that the credit risk spread is of greater importance for financing of the banking firm than the funding spread. The weaker relationship between the banks’ deposit rates and the short-term market rate may be due to the great variability of savings alternatives offered in the market place today. The fact that banks today have deposit-deficit may also explain the weaker relationship, which may be explained by the Baumol-Tobin transaction model – where the higher the interest rate, the greater amount is being kept in the account. The stronger relationship between the banks’ lending rate and the long-term market rate may be due to the nature of the credit risk spread to function as a price-discrimination tool between lending clients.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how well Swedish banks’ follow the interest rate development of Swedish Treasury Bills and Swedish Government Bonds when they are determining the levels for their deposit and lending rates. Individuals’ deposits in a bank serves as one of the banks main assets in the balance sheet, and the spread between the bank’s deposit rate and the short-term market rate is a large source of funding for the bank. If there is a strong relationship of this spread over time, one may assume that this spread is of great importance for financing of the banking firm.</p><p>The spread between the bank’s lending rate and the long-term market rate – credit risk spread – also serves a large source of interest income for the bank, and if this relationship is strong over time, one may assume that this spread is of great importance for financing of the banking firm as well.</p><p>The banks subjected for investigation in this paper are Handelsbanken (SHB) and Föreningssparbanken (FSB). This paper finds a weaker relationship between the banks’ deposit rates and the short-term market rates, than for the lending rates and the long-term market rates. This indicates that the credit risk spread is of greater importance for financing of the banking firm than the funding spread. The weaker relationship between the banks’ deposit rates and the short-term market rate may be due to the great variability of savings alternatives offered in the market place today. The fact that banks today have deposit-deficit may also explain the weaker relationship, which may be explained by the Baumol-Tobin transaction model – where the higher the interest rate, the greater amount is being kept in the account. The stronger relationship between the banks’ lending rate and the long-term market rate may be due to the nature of the credit risk spread to function as a price-discrimination tool between lending clients.</p>

Nos últimos anos, o Brasil tem apresentado um crescimento acelerado do crédito ao setor privado, atingindo uma taxa de crescimento real acima de 20% ao ano entre 2006 e 2008. Uma questão importante é saber se esse aumento recente do crédito no país pode ser justificado pelo baixo nível inicial de financiamentos e, também, pelas diversas mudanças no ambiente macroeconômico e microeconômico no período, ou se, caso contrário, esse crescimento pode ser considerado exagerado, com possíveis riscos à economia. Este trabalho se propõe a utilizar duas metodologias complementares e muito utilizadas na literatura para a identificação de booms de crédito: um método univariado de séries temporais, baseado nos desvios das séries de crédito em relação a sua tendência de longo-prazo, e um método multivariado, no qual busca explicar o nível de crédito ou o crescimento dele em função dos fundamentos econômicos. Os resultados encontrados indicam que ainda há espaços para o crescimento do crédito no Brasil, porém, um sinal de atenção é dado em relação à taxa de expansão observada do crédito, uma vez que, nos últimos anos, esta se apresentou um pouco elevada, ainda que nenhum sinal claro de boom tenha sido observado. Por fim, outro fato importante encontrado é a questão da recente crise econômica ter contribuído não apenas para aumentar o debate da sustentabilidade da expansão do crédito no Brasil, como também, parece ter contido os excessos nas taxas de crescimento que começavam a ser observados no final de 2007. / In recent years, Brazil has experienced rapid growth in credit to private sector, achieving a real growth rate of above 20% per year between 2006 and 2008. An important question is whether this recent increase in domestic credit can be justified by the low initial level of lending, and also by the various changes in macroeconomic and microeconomic environment in the period, or if, otherwise, this growth can be considered exaggerated, with potential risks to the economy. This paper proposes to use two complementary and widely-used methodologies in the literature of identifying credit booms: an univariate method of time series, based on deviations of the credit series in relation to its long-term tendency, and a multivariate method, which seeks to explain the level of credit or its growth as a function of economic fundamentals. The results indicate that there is still some space for credit growth in Brazil, however, a warning sign is given in relation to the rate of credit expansion observed in recent years, which has appeared a bit high, even though no clear sign of boom has been observed. Finally, another important fact found is the issue of the recent economic crisis that has contributed not only to the increase in the sustainability debate of credit expansion in Brazil, but also seems to have contained the excesses in growth rates that began to be observed at the end of 2007.

A busca por maior disponibilidade de crédito de longo prazo para investimentos produtivos vem adquirindo importância no Brasil, pois possibilita que empresas se lancem em empreendimentos de média e grande escala, alimentando o processo de crescimento econômico e desenvolvimento do País. A modalidade Financiamento a Empreendimentos (Finem) do BNDES é uma das poucas linhas de crédito bancário interna que oferece a possibilidade de financiamento de projetos de investimento de montantes elevados e longo prazo de maturação. No entanto, o montante disponibilizado por essa linha vem apresentando pequena evolução em relação ao PIB. Esperava-se aumento dessa disponibilidade com o Plano Real e a criação de um ambiente econômico propício ao planejamento de longo prazo, o que não ocorreu. Assim, este estudo tem por objetivo avaliar os principais fatores que influenciam a disponibilidade de crédito de longo prazo no Brasil destinado a investimentos produtivos, visando não somente expandir essa disponibilidade como também criar condições para que bancos múltiplos venham a atuar com maior vigor nesse processo. No modelo estudado, foram incluídas como variáveis, além daquela de maior interesse, os desembolsos da linha Finem, representando a disponibilidade desse tipo de crédito, outras relacionadas a questões macroeconômicas, ao arcabouço teórico de falhas de mercado e intervenção do Estado e ao desempenho do BNDES, com dados coletados entre 2001 e 2011. Utilizando um Modelo Autorregressivo Vetorial com Correção de Erro (VEC), este estudo constata a importância da intervenção do Estado, via alocação de recursos, no processo de disponibilização desse tipo de crédito, confirmando a hipótese de que mesmo o BNDES apresentando bons índices de desempenho e buscando diversificar suas fontes de recursos, a intervenção do Estado ainda se mostra como alternativa essencial para elevar a disponibilidade dessa linha de crédito. O estudo evidencia ainda que a estabilidade econômica também é fator relevante, por permitir planejamento de longo prazo, comprovando de forma empírica estudos anteriores sobre o tema. Outros fatores, como crescimento econômico, disponibilidade de alternativas e desempenho do BNDES na concessão de crédito também se mostram diretamente relacionados à disponibilidade desse tipo de crédito. Por outro lado, o lucro líquido do BNDES tem pouca importância nos desembolsos da linha Finem, resultado que se justifica pela folga no Índice de Basileia que a instituição teve no período analisado. O resultado referente à influência do Risco-Brasil, por sua vez, mostra que as captações de recursos externos do BNDES podem estar sendo guiadas por outros fatores, como questões orçamentárias ou políticas governamentais. Os resultados indicam que seria de se considerar a intervenção do Estado na alocação de recursos aos bancos múltiplos para que esses possam atuar com maior vigor na disponibilização desse tipo de crédito. Por fim, o presente estudo expõe a necessidade de se dedicar maior atenção à destinação dos recursos oriundos desse tipo específico de crédito, para que ele possa efetivamente colaborar com a promoção do crescimento e desenvolvimento do País. / The search for greater availability of long-term credit for productive investments in Brazil has been gaining importance since it enables companies to engage in medium and large-scale businesses, feeding the economic growth and development processes. The line of credit provided by BNDES, called Financing to Enterprises (Finem), is one of the few lines existing in Brazil which offers the possibility of financing investment projects with large amounts and long-term maturity. However, the amount provided by this line has shown little progress in relation to GDP. It was expected an increase of that availability with the Real Plan and the creation of an economic environment favorable to long-term planning, which did not occur. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the main factors influencing the availability of long-term credit in Brazil for productive investments, not only in order to expand it but also creating conditions for multiple banks to effectively participate in that process. The model specified for this study included variables such as the disbursements of the Finem line of credit, representing the availability of that credit, and others related to macroeconomic issues, theoretical framework of market failures and government intervention and BNDES performance, with data collected between 2001 and 2011. Using an Autoregressive Model with Vector Error Correction (VEC), this study notes the importance of government intervention, through allocation of resources, in providing this type of credit, confirming the hypothesis that although BNDES presents good levels of performance and seeks to diversify its funding sources, government intervention is still an essential alternative to increase the availability of that line of credit. This study also shows that economic stability is a relevant factor, for allowing long-term planning, by empirically confirming previous studies on the subject. Other factors such as economic growth, availability of alternatives and BNDES lending performance are directly related to the availability of such credit. On the other hand, BNDES profits have little importance on Finem disbursements, a result that is justified by the BNDES Basel Ratio ascertained in that period. The result concerning the influence of Brazil Risk index, in turn, shows that the external funds obtained by BNDES may have been guided by other factors such as budgetary issues or government policies. The results indicate that policy makers would consider government intervention in the allocation of resources to multiple banks, so that they can intensify the availability of such credit. Finally, this study exposes the necessity to dedicate more attention to the destination of resources from this particular type of credit, so that it can effectively contribute to promote growth and development in Brazil.

A busca por maior disponibilidade de crédito de longo prazo para investimentos produtivos vem adquirindo importância no Brasil, pois possibilita que empresas se lancem em empreendimentos de média e grande escala, alimentando o processo de crescimento econômico e desenvolvimento do País. A modalidade Financiamento a Empreendimentos (Finem) do BNDES é uma das poucas linhas de crédito bancário interna que oferece a possibilidade de financiamento de projetos de investimento de montantes elevados e longo prazo de maturação. No entanto, o montante disponibilizado por essa linha vem apresentando pequena evolução em relação ao PIB. Esperava-se aumento dessa disponibilidade com o Plano Real e a criação de um ambiente econômico propício ao planejamento de longo prazo, o que não ocorreu. Assim, este estudo tem por objetivo avaliar os principais fatores que influenciam a disponibilidade de crédito de longo prazo no Brasil destinado a investimentos produtivos, visando não somente expandir essa disponibilidade como também criar condições para que bancos múltiplos venham a atuar com maior vigor nesse processo. No modelo estudado, foram incluídas como variáveis, além daquela de maior interesse, os desembolsos da linha Finem, representando a disponibilidade desse tipo de crédito, outras relacionadas a questões macroeconômicas, ao arcabouço teórico de falhas de mercado e intervenção do Estado e ao desempenho do BNDES, com dados coletados entre 2001 e 2011. Utilizando um Modelo Autorregressivo Vetorial com Correção de Erro (VEC), este estudo constata a importância da intervenção do Estado, via alocação de recursos, no processo de disponibilização desse tipo de crédito, confirmando a hipótese de que mesmo o BNDES apresentando bons índices de desempenho e buscando diversificar suas fontes de recursos, a intervenção do Estado ainda se mostra como alternativa essencial para elevar a disponibilidade dessa linha de crédito. O estudo evidencia ainda que a estabilidade econômica também é fator relevante, por permitir planejamento de longo prazo, comprovando de forma empírica estudos anteriores sobre o tema. Outros fatores, como crescimento econômico, disponibilidade de alternativas e desempenho do BNDES na concessão de crédito também se mostram diretamente relacionados à disponibilidade desse tipo de crédito. Por outro lado, o lucro líquido do BNDES tem pouca importância nos desembolsos da linha Finem, resultado que se justifica pela folga no Índice de Basileia que a instituição teve no período analisado. O resultado referente à influência do Risco-Brasil, por sua vez, mostra que as captações de recursos externos do BNDES podem estar sendo guiadas por outros fatores, como questões orçamentárias ou políticas governamentais. Os resultados indicam que seria de se considerar a intervenção do Estado na alocação de recursos aos bancos múltiplos para que esses possam atuar com maior vigor na disponibilização desse tipo de crédito. Por fim, o presente estudo expõe a necessidade de se dedicar maior atenção à destinação dos recursos oriundos desse tipo específico de crédito, para que ele possa efetivamente colaborar com a promoção do crescimento e desenvolvimento do País. / The search for greater availability of long-term credit for productive investments in Brazil has been gaining importance since it enables companies to engage in medium and large-scale businesses, feeding the economic growth and development processes. The line of credit provided by BNDES, called Financing to Enterprises (Finem), is one of the few lines existing in Brazil which offers the possibility of financing investment projects with large amounts and long-term maturity. However, the amount provided by this line has shown little progress in relation to GDP. It was expected an increase of that availability with the Real Plan and the creation of an economic environment favorable to long-term planning, which did not occur. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the main factors influencing the availability of long-term credit in Brazil for productive investments, not only in order to expand it but also creating conditions for multiple banks to effectively participate in that process. The model specified for this study included variables such as the disbursements of the Finem line of credit, representing the availability of that credit, and others related to macroeconomic issues, theoretical framework of market failures and government intervention and BNDES performance, with data collected between 2001 and 2011. Using an Autoregressive Model with Vector Error Correction (VEC), this study notes the importance of government intervention, through allocation of resources, in providing this type of credit, confirming the hypothesis that although BNDES presents good levels of performance and seeks to diversify its funding sources, government intervention is still an essential alternative to increase the availability of that line of credit. This study also shows that economic stability is a relevant factor, for allowing long-term planning, by empirically confirming previous studies on the subject. Other factors such as economic growth, availability of alternatives and BNDES lending performance are directly related to the availability of such credit. On the other hand, BNDES profits have little importance on Finem disbursements, a result that is justified by the BNDES Basel Ratio ascertained in that period. The result concerning the influence of Brazil Risk index, in turn, shows that the external funds obtained by BNDES may have been guided by other factors such as budgetary issues or government policies. The results indicate that policy makers would consider government intervention in the allocation of resources to multiple banks, so that they can intensify the availability of such credit. Finally, this study exposes the necessity to dedicate more attention to the destination of resources from this particular type of credit, so that it can effectively contribute to promote growth and development in Brazil.

Institutional policies or terms and conditions of credit allocation complicate the demand and supply of small business enterprise (SBE) credit, causing lost profits. Banks leaders losing 28% of profitable projects because of the high rejection rate of credit applications for SBE loans is a concern. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies Southeastern Nigerian state bank leaders use to minimize lost profit from SBE credit rejections. The conceptual framework that grounded this study was credit rationing focused on the lender-borrower relationship. Data collection involved reviews of company documents and face-to-face semistructured interviews of 6 participants from 3 banks in the Southeastern Nigerian state. Based on the Schorr's modified data analysis approach, 5 themes emerged (a) credit rationing depends on sufficient information (b) business accounts statements are a fall back for credit availability (c) character may be more important than collateral (d) government policies are challenges to the formal banking system (e) profits may be a hedge for high-interest rates. Findings may be used to enhance the profitability of banks in the Southeastern Nigerian state. Implications for positive social change may include the support of community projects for individuals living at or below the poverty level in the region.

The world's economies are in a turbulent phase where rising inflation has hit the global and Swedish economy hard. The Central Bank of Sweden has raised the policy rate expansively in recent months, with the intention of curbing inflation. Swedish real estate companies have experienced significant debt growth in recent years, making them very sensitive to interest rate increases. The increasing financing costs are challenging for real estate companies and it is of great importance that the companies continue to maintain earnings, that interest rates do not rise too much and that they continue to have sufficient access to financing. The credit rating of real estate companies is a crucial component of their financing, as it measures the long-term risk of default and can affect the company's cost of borrowing. The purpose of the paper is to investigate what different financing options Swedish real estate companies have during a recession and how the financial strategy and risk management differs depending on the company's credit rating. Furthermore, the study will investigate how the capital structure changes depending on the measures taken. The study is based on a qualitative study conducted with semi-structured interviews to gain a comprehensive understanding of the research area. The interviews were primarily conducted with real estate companies, both rated and unrated, and all rated companies in the study have an investment grade rating. This was followed by interviews with the major Swedish banks involved in lending to real estate companies and the credit rating agencies that carry out official ratings for real estate companies. The results show that the financing options differ depending on the credit rating of the real estate company. The biggest difference is identified between companies with a credit rating in the A segment and companies with a credit rating in the triple B segment. Financing costs have increased for all companies but significantly more for companies in the triple B segment. As a result, the capital market is to a greater extent inaccessible to the triple B companies and therefore these companies choose to focus on bank financing. The study has also shown that it is of great importance for real estate companies to make a long-term decision on their financing strategy and the extent to which their credit rating is important for their financing. The study found that there are two groups of attitudes towards the credit rating. Either companies use all means to defend their credit rating, or they put their efforts into strengthening the balance sheet and maintaining bank covenants. The market conditions have also affected the capital structures of real estate companies. High inflation and rising interest rates result in higher yield requirements, which leads to falling property values and rising LTV ratios for real estate companies. Real estate companies work actively to reduce their LTV ratios by selling properties, increasing share capital, reducing the pace of investment and suspending dividends. An excessively high LTV ratio can lead to a credit rating downgrade and, depending on how the company perceives this, the actions of real estate companies may differ. / Världens ekonomier befinner sig i en turbulent period där den stigande inflationen har slagit hårt mot den globala och svenska ekonomin. Den svenska centralbanken har under de senaste månaderna höjt styrräntan expansivt i syfte att dämpa inflationen. De svenska fastighetsbolagen har haft en betydande skuldtillväxt de senaste åren, vilket gör dem mycket känsliga för räntehöjningar. De ökande finansieringskostnaderna är utmanande för fastighetsbolagen och det är av stor vikt att bolagen fortsätter att upprätthålla intjäningen, att räntorna inte stiger för mycket och att de fortsätter att ha tillräcklig tillgång till finansiering. Fastighetsbolagens kreditbetyg är en avgörande komponent i deras finansiering, eftersom det mäter den långsiktiga risken för betalningsinställelse och kan påverka bolagets lånekostnader. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilka olika finansieringsalternativ svenska fastighetsbolag har under en lågkonjunktur samt hur den finansiella strategin och riskhanteringen skiljer sig åt beroende på bolagets kreditvärdighet. Vidare kommer studien att undersöka hur kapitalstrukturen förändras beroende på vilka åtgärder som vidtas. Studien baseras på en kvalitativ studie som genomförts med semistrukturerade intervjuer för att få en djupare förståelse för forskningsområdet. Intervjuerna har främst genomförts med fastighetsbolag, både med och utan kreditbetyg, och samtliga företag som innehar ett kreditbetyg i studien har ett betyg inom investment grade segmentet. Därefter följde intervjuer med de svenska storbanker som är involverade i utlåning till fastighetsbolagen och de kreditvärderingsinstitut som utför officiella kreditvärderingar av fastighetsbolagen.  Resultatet visar att finansieringsalternativen skiljer sig åt beroende på fastighetsbolagets kreditvärdighet. Den största skillnaden identifieras mellan bolag med kreditbetyg i A segmentet och bolag med kreditbetyg i trippel B segmentet. Finansieringskostnaderna har ökat för samtliga bolag men betydligt mer för bolagen i trippel B segmentet. Som en följd av detta är kapitalmarknaden i större utsträckning otillgänglig för trippel B företagen och därför väljer dessa företag att öka sin finansiering från banker. Studien har också visat att det är av stor vikt för fastighetsbolagen att fatta ett långsiktigt beslut gällande sin finansieringsstrategi och i vilken utsträckning deras kreditbetyg är viktigt för deras finansiering. Undersökningen visade att det finns två grupper av attityder till kreditbetyget. Antingen använder bolagen alla medel för att försvara sitt kreditbetyg, eller så lägger de sina ansträngningar på att stärka balansräkningen och upprätthålla bankcovenanterna. Marknadsförhållandena har också påverkat fastighetsbolagens kapitalstruktur. Hög inflation och stigande räntor leder till högre avkastningskrav, vilket leder till fallande fastighetsvärden och stigande belåningsgrader för fastighetsbolagen. Fastighetsbolagen arbetar aktivt med att sänka sina belåningsgrader genom att sälja fastigheter, ta in mer aktiekapital, minska investeringstakten och dra in utdelningar. En alltför hög belåningsgrad kan leda till en nedgradering av kreditbetyg och beroende på bolagets syn på detta kan fastighetsbolagens åtgärder skilja sig åt.