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This paper aims to investigate how cognitive factors affect borrowing discouragement among entrepreneurs. Specifically, the study tests the effects of overconfidence, dispositional optimism and entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) on borrowing discouragement.

The study relies on Fraser's (2014) theoretical model to formulate the hypotheses. The results are based on a small sample of French entrepreneurs drawn from the AMADEUS database. Hierarchical Probit estimations are used to access the effects of the cognitive factors on borrowing discouragement.

The findings suggest that optimistic entrepreneurs are less likely to feel discouraged, while miscalibrated entrepreneurs are more prone to feel borrowing discouragement. There was no significant result for ESE and discouragement.

The study brings new implications and insights to the literature that investigates factors that cause discouragement in entrepreneurs, as well as implications for policymakers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the trend of discouragement in the small and medium sized enterprise’s (SME) lending market during the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. It detects the extent to which the responses of discouraged firms to improvements in the lending market are lagged.

The results are based on surveys of UK SME Finance Monitor (2011-2016). Probit regression models were used to assess the effect of time passed from the financial crisis on the probability of discouragement.

The analysis, inter alia, shows that the rate of discouragement has reduced significantly since 2013. The results highlight the long-term effect of tightened credit supply on SMEs that are ready to invest, but hold back because of fear of rejection.

The research suggests addressing imperfect information among discouraged SMEs that are recuperating from the financial crisis. With the rise of information asymmetry, entrepreneurs show a higher level of fear of rejection by financial institutions. The longer the effects of the financial crisis exists among entrepreneurs, the longer they self-ration from credit market, which subsequently leads to reduced levels of investment, growth, and innovation among SMEs.

This research fills a gap in the literature of the effect of financial crisis on the latent demand for lending. It discusses the long-term effect of tightened credit supply among entrepreneurs even though the supply side has recuperated and recommenced pre-crisis activities.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the presence of gender-based discrimination in formal credit markets during the global financial crisis. Specifically, the study tests for gender differences in the probability of being credit-rationed, in the likelihood of being a discouraged borrower and in the price conditions of bank financing.

This paper uses the fifth wave of the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), which provides detailed micro data on firms from 26 transition economies in Europe and Central Asia. The empirical analysis employs linear and non-linear sample selection regression models and extended Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition techniques to assess gender differences in access to credit.

Controlling for a large set of observable firm characteristics and for endogenous selectivity, we find that female-led firms are more likely to face financing constraints and to be discouraged from applying for credit than their male counterparts. Conditional on having obtained a loan, female-led firms also face significantly higher interest rates. Furthermore, the observed gender gaps are mainly due to unexplained factors, supporting the hypothesis that banks discriminate against women-led firms in their credit-granting decision.

This study provides new insights on gender discrimination in formal credit markets, highlighting that gender differentials in access to credit significantly vary across countries and strongly depend upon the definition of the firm's gender structure. From a policy perspective, the evidence obtained stresses the need for policies aimed at promoting the role of women in the economic environment in order to reduce discrimination and raise competition in credit markets. Moreover, public interventions should support lending to creditworthy female enterprises in order to improve their perceptions about banks' willingness to grant credit and reduce their propensity to be discouraged from applying.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the micro determinants of the extent of credit rationing experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana.

The study adopted the direct approach to investigating the presence of credit rationing. This involves the use of surveys permitting loan applicants to report on their credit market experiences. The multinomial logistic regression model was then applied to the survey data to arrive at the findings reported.

The study amongst other things confirms the existence of credit rationing in the SME sector. It also revealed that the extent to which SMEs are rationed varies and these variations are determined by the characteristic of the SME owner and the characteristics of the business.

The use of the survey method in investigating credit rationing could introduce some biases in the responses obtained. However, the lack of publicly available data did not permit the use of the indirect method which is based on the testing for possible violation of the permanent income hypothesis. Despite its weakness, the survey method remains the more realistic approach to investigating credit constraints especially in the data-constrained developing countries. The design and piloting of the questionnaire as well as the use a large sample size all went a long way to reduce any possible biases in the responses.

Despite the fact that a number of studies exist on SME financing problem in Ghana, available studies present the problem as if it were the same for all SMEs. Even though there is evidence to suggest that SMEs may be rationed in the credit market to different extents, currently, there are no known studies that have empirically investigated the various degrees of rationing and factors that determine the extent to which SMEs may be credit rationed. This paper thus attempts to contribute to the literature by unearthing these factors.

This paper aims to review the literature extensively by analysing recent work and providing a guide for models, data sets and research findings.

This paper reviews the literature extensively by analysing recent work and providing a guide for models, data sets and research findings within the context of capital market imperfections. The authors further break down the literature into closer-in-nature categories for reader’s convenience and comprehension. Finally, the authors address gaps in the existing literature and propose government policies that can tone down the potential effect of credit rationing on employment.

This paper provides a map of the literature so as to help future researchers in the relevant literature and give a short insight of what has been explored so far.

This paper is original and is the result of a thorough review of an extensive literature.

Using ethnicity as our point of focus, the authors consider the dynamics of the demand for bank loans, and the willingness of banks to supply them, as the UK economy entered the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 with a particular focus on potential behavioural differences on the demand-side and discrimination on the supply-side. In doing so we directly address crisis induced financial concerns and how they played out in the context of ethnicity.

Using the most recent ten quarterly waves of the UK SME Finance Monitor survey the authors consider whether ethnicity of the business owner impacts on the decision to apply for bank loans in the first instance. The authors then question whether ethnicity influences the banks decision to meet or reject the request for a bank loan.

The authors’ pre-COVID-19 results show that there were no ethnic differences in loan application and success rates. During COVID-19, both white and ethnic business loan application rates rose significantly, but the scale of this increase was greater for ethnic businesses. The presence of government 100% guaranteed lending also increased general loan success rates, but again the scale of this improvement was greater for ethnic businesses.

The authors show very clearly that differences in the willingness of banks to supply loans to SMEs relate very explicitly to firm specific characteristics and ethnicity either plays no additional role or actually leads to improved loan outcomes. The data is for the UK and for a very unique COVID time which may mean that wider generalisability is unwise.

Ethnic business owners should not worry about lending discrimination or be discouraged from applying for loans.

The authors identify at worst no lending discrimination and at best positive ethnic discrimination.

This is one of the largest COVID-19 period studies into the financing of ethnic businesses.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurs demand for external finance changed as the economy continued to be mired in its third and fourth years of the global financial crisis (GFC) and whether or not external finance has become more difficult to access as the recession progressed.

Using a large-scale survey data on over 30,000 UK small- and medium-sized enterprises between July 2011 and March 2013, the authors estimate a series of conditional probit models to empirically test the determinants of the supply of, and demand for external finance.

Older firms and those with a higher risk rating, and a record of financial delinquency, were more likely to have a demand for external finance. The opposite was true for women-led businesses and firms with positive profits. In general finance was more readily available to older firms post-GFC, but banks were very unwilling to advance money to firms with a high-risk rating or a record of any financial delinquency. It is estimated that a maximum of 42,000 smaller firms were denied credit, which was significantly lower than the peak of 119,000 during the financial crisis.

This paper provides timely evidence that adds to the general understanding of what really happens in the market for small business financing three to five years into an economic downturn and in the early post-GFC period, from both a demand and supply perspective. This will enable the authors to consider what the potential impacts of credit rationing on the small business sector are and also identify areas where government action might be appropriate.

The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the determinants of owner manager financial self-confidence. In particular, it estimates the effect of bank credit rejection and financial education (FE) on the financial self-confidence of business owners.

This paper uses data from 2004 and 2008 surveys of 2,500 UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). An ordered probit estimation is used to measure and assess the effect of bank credit rejection and FE variables on financial self-confidence for the two periods. The authors also explore potential differences in self-confidence between males and females.

The results show that outright bank credit rejection reduces financial self-confidence among owner managers whereas partial bank credit rejection is found to help boost confidence prior to the financial crisis. There is strong evidence that FE increases financial self-confidence. Finally, the authors find no association between gender and reported self-confidence in finance.

Entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs are encouraged to explore financial literacy and knowledge with a view to increasing their financial self-confidence. This will help SMEs to deal with the banks or other finance providers more efficiently. In addition, better application procedures and information on lending criteria may help SMEs to minimize the probability of bank credit rejection. So the current study has implications for professional bodies as well. The study, however, is restricted to sole proprietor and partnership SMEs and in the UK context only.

Financial self-confidence has a progressive effect on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial venture growth. The financial self-confidence of owner managers can support their entrepreneurial capability in starting and operating one or more businesses. As entrepreneurs successfully start and operate their own businesses, they are contributing to economic development through job creation, employment and tax contribution.

This paper makes an original contribution in highlighting the usefulness of FE in boosting financial self-confidence among entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs. It is also found that the experience of bank credit rejection reduces entrepreneurs’ financial self-confidence.

The purpose of this paper is fourfold: to provide an overview of the alternative simplified credit (ASC) and a basic understanding of how it works; to provide a brief history of the research and experimentation credit as a whole and its evolution; to emphasize the importance of this credit to companies in maintaining a commanding research and development presence in the USA; and lastly to discuss hot topics/issues relating to the taxpayer as they pertain to capturing the maximal value of qualifying research expenditures (QREs) and sustaining this credit upon IRS examination.

The driver for this article came from interviews and discussions with CEOs, Vice Presidents, VPs of Tax and Director level engineers and scientists over the past two years who have demonstrated great interest in capturing the benefits from the credit but was unclear as to how to proceed.

Directors overseeing research and development commonly misclassify research and development expenses as something else. For example, specialized computer software that is used in research and development may be misclassified as general and administrative expenses. Other times, companies performing research and development do not realize that the work they perform qualifies for the research and experimentation tax credit. Consultants can potentially save a significant amount of tax dollars by carefully examining client records, interviewing client personnel to gain an understanding of a client's R&D spend to see if reclassification is possible and justifiable.

The author clearly describes the workings of the ASC and the status of the research and experimentation credit as a whole. The paper provides an overview of the subject, and is written so that the messages can be understood by senior management who do not necessarily possess highly tax technical knowledge. It also touches upon some interesting aspects of optimization as they relate to capturing and defending the research and experimentation credit. The author's ideas of integrating operations management and operations research tools and methodologies in optimizing the defensibility of the research and experimentation tax credit are novel and appear to be very promising.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the impact of COVID-19 on the performance of financial managers of medium and large companies.

This research used the data of 173 listed large and over-the-counter as medium-size companies from 2018 to 2021. The results of these tests have been analyzed using panel data and STATA 15 software.

The results showed that COVID-19 has no significant relationship with the return on equity in large and medium-size companies. This variable does not significantly affect Tobin’s Q index in medium-size companies either. Other financial indicators examined in this research have decreased considerably in all companies under the influence of COVID-19. Still, the intensity of this effect is different in large and medium-size companies. Funds from borrowings and Tobin’s Q ratios in medium-size companies compared with large companies have been more severely affected by the COVID-19 disease; the return on assets, book value to market value and large companies compared with medium-size companies have been more severely and significantly affected by COVID-19; and financing funds through the issuance of shares in large companies and medium-size companies have been affected by COVID-19 almost equally.

Despite the studies related to financial crises and their effect on the performance of companies, no research has examined the financial performance indicators during the outbreak of COVID-19 in large and small companies. Therefore, the results of this research can affect different groups: financial managers and the board of directors of companies to better understand the impact of the corona disease on the company’s performance; investors benefit from research results in line with investment decisions; developing theory and educational topics for the benefit of students and studying and conducting more experimental research in this regard; and the stock exchange organization and regulatory and support institutions need to find out the depth of the disaster and the effect of COVID-19 on the performance of companies.