1、中小企业融资缺口理论和证据文献翻译外文题目：The SME Financing Gap: Theory and Evidence 出 处：Financial Market Trends 作 者：James Clunie 原 文：The SME Financing Gap: Theory and EvidenceSummaryI. BackgroundAt the 2nd OECD Ministerial Conference on SMEs held in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 2004, Ministers recognised in the Istanbul
2、Ministerial Declaration the need to improve access to financing for SMEs on reasonable terms |.|. Ministers underlined the importance of this issue by encouraging the OECD to organise a thematic conference for further discussion to seek more innovative solutions and initiatives for facilitating SME
3、access to financing, from firm creation through all stages of development.The high-level OECD Global Conference on Better Financing for Entrepreneurship and SME Growth。 hosted by the Brazilian Government (Brasilia, 27-30 March 2006) in the framework of the OECD Bologna Process on SME and Entrepreneu
4、rship Policies, provided an occasion to achieve these objectives. At that conference, a keynote paper on the SME Financing Gap was presented and discussed which provided the basis fora report being published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD (The SME Financing Gap (Vo/. 1):
5、Theory and Evidence, OECD 2006*). The following is the executive summary of the report, which analyses the financing gap, discusses challenges of debt financing of SMEs and perspectives for venture capital financing, draws conclusions and gives recommendations on how to foster SME financing. II. Exe
6、cutive SummaryMany commentators have postulated a financing gap for small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs), meaning that there are significant numbers of SMEs that could use funds productively if they were available, but cannot obtain finance from the formal financial system. The OECD report on th
7、e SME financing gap, which is summarized here, analyses the financing gap concept, seeks to determine how prevalent such a gap may be - both for OECD countries and non-member economies and recommends measures to foster an improved flow of financing to SMEs.SMEs and entrepreneurship are now recognise
8、d world-wide to be a key source of dynamism, innovation and flexibility in advanced industrialised countries, as well as in emerging and developing economies. SMEs constitute the dominant form of business organisation world-wide, accounting for over 95 per cent and up to 99 per cent, depending on th
9、e country; they are responsible for between 60-70 per cent net job creation in OECD countries and make important contributions to innovation, productivity and economic growth. If the SME sector does not have access to external funds for investment, the capacity to raise investment per worker, and th
10、ereby improve productivity and wages, is seriously impaired.The difficulties that SMEs experience can stem from several sources. The domestic financial market may contain an incomplete range of financial products and services. The lack of appropriate financing mechanisms could stem from a variety of
11、 reasons, such as regulatory rigidities or gaps in the legal framework. Moreover, development economists increasingly accept the proposition that, due to monitoring difficulties such as principal/agent problems and asymmetric information, suppliers of finance may rationally choose to offer an array
12、of financial services that leaves significant numbers of potential borrowers without access to credit. Credit rationing is said to occur if: 1) among loan applicants who appear to be identical some receive credit while others do not; or 2) there are identifiable groups in the population that are una
13、ble to obtain credit at any price. Owing to their inherent monitoring problems, SMEs will be at a particularly severe disadvantage relative to larger and more established firms. SMEs difficulty in obtaining financing will be compounded when the business environment lacks transparency, when the legal
14、 system is weak, and when monopolies are present. As well, loan originators may avoid providing financing to certain types of SMEs, in particular, start-ups and very young firms that typically lack sufficient collateral or firms whose activities offer the possibilities of high returns, but at a subs
15、tantial risk of loss. In a competitive market, suppliers of finance have powerful incentives to overcome barriers to SME finance. In most OECD countries, banks perceive SME finance as an attractive line of business and thus have developed effective monitoring techniques. Whether any country experien
16、ces a financing gap will ultimately depend upon whether the business environment is sufficiently robust to enable borrowers and lenders to interact with confidence on an arms length basis. In order to determine how widespread the financing gap problem is, the OECD Secretariat circulated a questionna
17、ire to officials in all member countries as well as to a large number of non-members (over 100 economies in all) to gain some insights into factors influencing the provision of financing to the SME sector. Much of the information sought is of a qualitative nature, and thus, the results of this surve
18、y along with related information e.g. national surveys and development finance analyses), even when complete, permit only some tentative conclusions. The experience of OECD and non-OECD economies with SME financing gaps can be divided into three groups:1. OECD countries do not report any generalised
19、 SME financing gap. Most SMEs in OECD countries are able to obtain sufficient credit from banks and other credit institutions, supplemented in some cases by a modest volume of official guarantees. 2. Most non-OECD economies, by contrast, report a widespread shortage of SME finance. Even though SMEs
20、typically account for a large share of enterprises, employment, and output in many emerging and developing countries, they receive a very low share of credit, with the majority often denied any access to the formal markets. This development is closely related to the phenomenon of informality in emer
21、ging markets in which many enterprises operate outside the formal system. There are three factors favouring informality: 1) established financial institutions are not interested in dealing with SMEs and, hence, there are few positive incentives to operate transparently; 2) entrepreneurs in SMEs seek
22、 to avoid regulation and taxation in the formal sector; and 3) governments lack the administrative capacity to enforce laws and regulations. 3. Most OECD countries perceive that a lack of appropriate financing has been a hindrance to the expansion of innovative SMEs (ISMEs), i.e. firms, often in tec
23、hnology sectors, with new business models and high growth prospects. In a small number of countries the ISME sector has expanded significantly, with positive implications for employment and technological competitiveness, but it has lagged considerably in most OECD countries, producing a gap to which
24、 policy makers often attribute low job creation and sagging competitiveness. Many OECD countries consider this gap to be an important challenge for policy.Banking and creditIn most jurisdictions commercial banks as a group are the main source of external finance for SMEs. Therefore, it is essential
25、that the banking system be prepared to extend credit to the SME sector. However, there are a number of rigidities of a macroeconomic, institutional and regulatory nature that may bias the entire banking system against lending to SMEs. Macroeconomic policies may lead to excess demand for available do
26、mestic savings, while government policy may favour industrialisation and/or import substitution, which effectively gives large domestic firms privileged access to finance. The legal system may not provide adequate protection for rights of creditors and may be relatively inefficient in resolving case
27、s of delinquent payments and bankruptcy. Additionally, the tax and regulatory framework may encourage firms to operate opaquely. Furthermore, the financial market may not contain the necessary range of products and services to meet the needs of SMEs. The characteristics of the banking system in emer
28、ging markets frequently inhibit SME lending. In many cases, many banks are state-owned. Histories of substandard lending may leave many banks with weak balance sheets. Significant shares of total credit are often allocated on the basis of government guarantees or under special programmes to support
29、targeted sectors. Banks may also be subjected to interest rate ceilings that make it difficult to price credit to SMEs to fully reflect the risk of lending to SMEs. In many countries the authorities have been reluctant to allow banks to fail and the banking system was supported by implicit or explic
30、it government guarantees. Many banks may have ownership and other ties to industrial interests and, thus, tend to favour affiliated companies. If the banking system has possibilities to earn acceptable returns by lending to other borrowers, it will not develop the skills needed to do SME lending. If
31、 the formal banking system shows little inclination to lend to SMEs, there is little incentive for firms to produce credible accounts and operate transparently.On a global level, a model of market-based banking has gained acceptance under which banks management and boards are accountable for achievi
32、ng high returns to shareholders and maintaining high prudential standards. As this model is applied and as the business environment becomes more competitive, banks have stronger incentives to find means to overcome the difficulties in SME lending. However, many emerging markets have been comparative
33、ly slow in implementing this model, which may be reflected in low volumes of SME lending. Lending to the SME sector would still be, in any case, subject to agency problems and the phenomenon of incomplete markets.The fact that SMEs in many emerging markets do not have access to bank financing is especially worrisome because
