Three essays on international finance

Meifang Xiang, Purdue University

Abstract

There is a paucity of research on discouraged small businesses, their reinvestment decisions, and the role of firm size and relationships on credit availability for small businesses internationally. The three essays included in this dissertation investigate these issues with a unique firm-level survey data set compiled by the World Bank. The purpose of the first essay is to examine the drivers of discouraged small businesses in various economies around the world. Results show that level of competition and the relationships with banks and other financial institutions have significant impact on the probability of a firm to be discouraged. Results also show that there are significant differences among discouraged firms in relatively developed economies and those in relatively underdeveloped economies. An increase in firm size and having relationships with a greater number of banks decrease the likelihood of being discouraged among firms in underdeveloped economies. Having a greater number of competitors increases the probability of being discouraged among firms in underdeveloped economies. Finally, higher growth rate countries have a lower proportion of discouraged borrowers overall. The second essay provides empirical evidence on profit reinvestment decisions by firms in various developing economies around the world. The study uses data from around 8,000 businesses in 35 countries. The results show that access to external financing, the level of competition, and the security of property rights are significant predictors of profit reinvestment decisions. Results also show that a higher level of a country’s economic freedom is associated with greater profit reinvestment while a country’s transition status is associated with less reinvestment. In addition, the study provides evidence that the security of property rights, access to external financing, and the level of competition seem to affect small firms more than large firms. These findings complement those from China and a few Eastern European countries. The third essay focuses on the role of firm size on credit availability for small businesses within six developing economies: Uganda, Tanzania, Pakistan, Brazil, Honduras and China. Results show that the probability of being credit constrained decreases with firm size and that relationships increase the probability of getting bank loans - especially if a firm has associations with other banks. The sensitivity of being credit constrained to firm size may be more acute in the relatively less developed economies (like Uganda) in our data and less so for the relatively developed economies (like Brazil). Also, the value of an ongoing relationship with another lender (at the margin) appears to be more valuable for firms in the least developed economies in our data (like Tanzania and Uganda). Corresponding analysis with data on small business lending from the United States has been done in order to compare the determinants of being credit constrained between developing and developed economies. Results show that relationships play a different role between firms in a developed economy and firms in developing economies, in that multiple resources of credit appears to increase the probability of obtaining credit for firms in the developing economies while it decreases the probability of getting loans for firms in a developed economy.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Chakravarty, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Management|Finance

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