Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02

Thesis advisor: Fabio Schiantarelli / The fundamental concept unifying this thesis is that outcomes at small geographical units can shed light on key economic questions of interest for both macroeconomics and finance. Some of the questions I explore in my work include whether bank networks facilitate access to financial capital by small businesses in the US, whether lending to small businesses is important for short-term economic growth, and whether different cultural and institutional endowments improve economic outcomes in the long run.\\ Small Business Lending and the Bank-Branch Network: In this chapter, I examine the role of banks in propagating local economic shocks from one area to another through their network of bank branches, by exploiting a newly developed branch-level dataset. Specifically, I examine the change in the geographical distribution of small business loans within each bank network in response to: 1) increases in deposit growth due to presence in areas with new fracking wells; 2) changes in the profitability of real estate loans due to presence in areas experiencing real estate booms. I evaluate how the supply-driven changes in lending following these shocks impact real economic activity. I find that banks export the increase in liquidity from the fracking areas and fund more small business loans at other, more distant branches. Borrowers from banks with a higher exposure to fracking experience faster establishment growth at areas beyond 100 miles from the fracking activity. The results for the real estate booms show that increases in the return of real estate loans contributed to a decrease in small business lending at branches away these booms. Borrowers from banks with high exposure to residential appreciation experienced slower establishment growth even within areas at a significant distance from the real estate booms.\\ Does It Matter Where You Came From? Ancestry Composition and Economic Performance of US Counties, 1850 - 2010: The United States provides a unique laboratory for understanding how the cultural, institutional, and human capital endowments of immigrant groups shape economic outcomes. In this paper, we use census micro-samples to reconstruct the country-of-ancestry composition of the population of US counties from 1850 to 2010. We also develop a county-level measure of GDP per capita over the same period. Using this novel panel data set, we show that the evolution of the country-of-origin composition of a county is significantly associated with changes in county-level GDP. The cultural, institutional, and human capital endowments from the country of origin drive this association. Particularly important are attitudes towards cooperation with others. Using an instrumental variable strategy, we identify a significant effect of changes in the ancestry-weighted endowments on economic development. Finally, our results suggest that while the fractionalization of ancestry groups is positively related to county GDP, fractionalization in attributes such as trust is negatively related to local economic performance. \\ Culture: Persistence and Evolution: This paper presents evidence on the speed of evolution (or lack thereof) of a wide range of values and beliefs of different generations of European immigrants to the US and interprets the evidence in the light of a simple model of socialization and identity choice. The main result is that persistence differs greatly across cultural attitudes. For instance, many family values, political orientation, and most deep personal religious values converge slowly to the prevailing US norm. Others, such as attitudes toward cooperation, children's independence, and sexual matters, converge rather quickly. The results obtained studying higher generation immigrants differ greatly from those found when the analysis is limited to the second generation, as typically done in the literature, and they imply a lesser degree of persistence than previously thought. Finally, we show that persistence is ``culture specific'' in the sense that the country from which one's ancestors came matters for the pattern of generational convergence. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

The subject of the thesis is to create a business plan for the development of the company runnig the restaurant. Analysis and practical part is based on the theoretical part, which includes a description of a business plan and market analysis. In the practical part is created a business plan and evaluated the effectiveness of the investment.

Less than 30% of Black business owners successfully obtain small business loans to sustain their businesses longer than 5 years when compared to evidence that shows that more than 65% of White small business owners obtain small business loans to sustain their businesses longer than 5 years. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the experiences of 3 Black owners of small businesses who successfully obtained small business loans and maintained operations longer than 5 years in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. The conceptual framework for this study was systems theory and contingency theory. The data collection process consisted of conducting face-to-face semistructured interviews with open-ended questions and a review of documents associated with the small business owners’ attempts to remain in business longer than 5 years. Data were analyzed using the modified van Kaam method, transcribing the interview recordings, and coding the data to identify relevant themes. Two primary themes emerged regarding successful strategies for obtaining small business loans: create an effective business plan, and research and prepare for the process of procuring a loan. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to provide Black owners of small businesses with strategies for obtaining small business loans and achieving sustainability of operations. Business success for Black owners of small businesses might contribute to the economic prosperity of the local communities.

El siguiente artículo propone explicar las principales variables de comportamiento de los clientes pymes y consumidores que podrían ser predictores de morosidad de acuerdo a la valoración de las diversas fuentes especializadas. Para lograrlo, en un primer momento se explican las variables predictoras de la morosidad para los clientes de consumo, como lo son el comportamiento dentro de su ciclo de vida, la educación financiera que puede recibir en su entorno familiar, su nivel educativo, características demográficas, factores emocionales, entre otros. Por otro lado, se explica que, en el caso de clientes pyme, las variables que se consideran son la experiencia previa, las variables cualitativas y cuantitativas que determinan su capacidad de pago, la evaluación crediticia por parte de las entidades financieras y la importancia de las garantías en la toma de decisión de otorgar un crédito para este tipo de clientes. La importancia de este artículo radica en revisar cuáles son los principales indicadores utilizados en la identificación oportuna del riesgo en los clientes para la mejor toma de decisiones, lo que contribuye a la cartera con clientes más saludables. Adicionalmente, busca brindar conocimiento e información, tanto a las instituciones financieras como a aquellos agentes financieros que tienen que ver con colocaciones de crédito, interesados en identificar conductas que puedan inducir al incumplimiento en ambos tipos de clientes. / The following article proposes to explain the main behavior variables of SME clients and consumers that could be predictors of delinquency according to the valuation of the various specialized sources. To achieve this, at first, the predictive variables of delinquency for consumer customers are explained, such as behavior within their life cycle, the financial education they can receive in their family environment, their educational level, demographic characteristics, and emotional factors, among others. On the other hand, it is explained that, in the case of SME clients, the variables considered are previous experience, qualitative and quantitative variables that determine their payment capacity, credit evaluation by financial institutions and the importance of the guarantees in the decision-making of guarantying a loan for this type of clients. The importance of this paper lies in reviewing the main indicators used in the timely identification of client risk for better decision making, which contributes to a portfolio with healthier clients. In addition, it seeks to provide knowledge and information, both to financial institutions and to those financial agents involved in credit placements, interested in identifying behaviors that may induce default in both types of clients. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional