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This study analyzes the role of regional cooperative banks in identifying and financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a proximity perspective. Access to finance is a major challenge for SMEs. Regional cooperative banks can remove this barrier based on cooperative bank's characteristics and geographic proximity to SMEs. Understanding the interplay between these financial actors and firms can contribute to a better support of SMEs development.

The results are based on a case study of eight SMEs located in southwestern France. Interviews were conducted with two regional cooperative funds and eight SMEs. The interview guide included questions related to the company, the projects financed and how financing was accessed.

Results reveal that a combination of three forms of proximity allows regional cooperative banks and SMEs to establish effective financing operations. They show that regional cooperative banks are key players in the existing financing mechanisms for SMEs. Such financing is often used to gain access to larger players at a later stage. The findings suggest the need for public policies that promote the integration of financing actors in regional ecosystems to advance SMEs' development.

This article examines how SMEs access financing, with a focus on regional cooperative banks, which have received little attention in the literature. Moreover, the relationships between these actors are studied through the lens of proximity. Regional cooperative banks are able to finance projects that may have been overlooked by traditional banks due to trust-building local dynamics.

This paper examines the moderating role of capital structure decisions in the relationship between research and development (R&D) investment and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) performance.

Based on panel data of 1,357 European SMEs from 2014 to 2020, this study employs a generalized method of moments (GMM) regression to examine the R&D-performance link through the moderating role of capital structure.

The results show that R&D investment and equity financing positively and significantly influence SMEs performance. Debt financing, however, is negatively and significantly associated with SME performance. In addition, we show that capital structure choice significantly moderates the relationship between R&D investment and SME performance. Specifically, debt financing attenuates the positive impact of R&D investment on SMEs performance, whereas equity financing accentuates this relationship.

This study helps policymakers formulate appropriate policies to overcome the challenges of underinvestment in R&D projects to enhance SMEs performance.

Our findings provide new evidence on R&D-performance literature by refining the deeper understanding of the role of capital structure, which has previously been examined in partial and fragmented ways.

Innovation in financing processes, enabled by the advent of new technologies, has supported the development of alternative finance funding tools. In this context, the study analyses the growing importance of alternative finance instruments (such as equity crowdfunding, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, venture capital, and others) in addressing the small and medioum enterprises' (SMEs) financing needs beyond traditional bank and market-based funding channels. By providing more flexible terms and faster approval times, these instruments are gradually reshaping the traditional bank-firm relationship.

To comprehensively understand this innovation shift in funding processes, the study employs a novel approach that merges three MCDA methods: Spherical Fuzzy Entropy, ARAS and TOPSIS. These methodologies allow for handling ambiguity and subjectivity in financial decision-making processes, examining the effects of multiple criteria, including interest rate, flexibility, accessibility, support, riskiness, and approval time, on the appeal of various financial alternatives.

The study’s results have significant theoretical and practical implications, supporting SMEs in carefully evaluate financing alternatives and enables banks to better identify the main “competitors” according to the “financial need” of the firm. Moreover, the rise of alternative finance, notably P2P lending, indicates a shift towards more efficient capital access, suggesting banks must innovate their funding channels to remain competitive, especially in offering flexible solutions for restructuring and high-risk scenarios.

The study advises top management that SMEs prefer traditional loans for their reliability and accessibility, necessitating banks to enhance transparency, innovate, and adopt digital solutions to meet evolving financing needs and improve customer satisfaction.

The study introduces a novel integration of Spherical Fuzzy TOPSIS, Entropy, and ARAS methodologies to face the complexities of financial decision-making for SME financing, addressing ambiguity and multiple criteria like interest rates, flexibility, and riskiness. It emphasizes the importance of traditional loans, the rising significance of alternative financing such as P2P lending, and the necessity for banks to innovate, thereby enriching the literature on bank-firm relationships and SME funding strategies.

Is access to finance a constraint for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development or a result of SMEs constraint? Considering the demand-side of the credit market, this paper aims to assess the effect of nonfinancial services (NFS) on financial access through demand for financing (direct effect) and access to finance (indirect effect).

Using data from a five-year comprehensive entrepreneurship program on a package of technical assistance, the author uses two impact assessment methods: before/after and propensity score matching approaches.

The author found significant changes in business practices for treated SMEs and entrepreneurs since both the number and frequency of good business practices increased for most of the SMEs in the program with a positive turnover effect. Evidence of the positive effects of NFS on demand for financing is found in SMEs but this does not involve more access to finance. Despite positive changes in business practices, small-size entrepreneurs continue to self-exclude for financing.

Different pass-throughs are operating within this “recycling” of entrepreneurial resources over time. The author shows the effectiveness of the knowledge on financing mechanism, financial conditions and government financial support, even if these mechanisms do not seem to lead to a significant improvement in access to finance.

Financing remains a serious concern for firms and is considered the main hurdle in the growth and development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Recently, a new stream of financing (SCF; supply chain finance) has emerged to meet the financing issues of SMEs. Therefore, measuring SCF is essential to support SMEs’ operations. This study aims to develop and validate the SCF scale based on extant literature.

Using a mixed-method approach, this study recruited different samples of SME entrepreneurs to confirm the internal consistency, assess construct validity and check the item structure of the SCF scale in AMOS.

The outcomes of confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the six factors of SCF (inventory financing, working capital optimization, reverse financing, fixed assets financing, logistics financing and order cycle financing) spread over 21 items. An interitem solid structure of the SCF scale offers invaluable contributions to the supply chain management literature.

This research supports SME entrepreneurs to obtain secure financing at the best cost, mitigating the risk of default, supporting the buyers’ payment terms, providing early payment to suppliers and strengthening the firm’s value chains. SMEs can obtain financing per their requirements to support their operational business processes. Moreover, SMEs can plan, manage and control finance-related transactional activities by correctly identifying financing solutions.

The present study contributes to SCM literature by developing and validating the SCF scale. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that redefined SCF and identified its six dimensions.

Although women-owned small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent only 21.1% of all SMEs in South Africa, they play a fundamental role in the SME sector in terms of job creation, employment and poverty alleviation that is critical for economic growth. This study aims to explore (FFIs) financing of women-owned SMEs in South Africa from a credit provider perspective (supply-side).

A qualitative research approach positioned in the interpretivistic research paradigm was used to accomplish this study objectives. The five-step process of content analysis proposed by Terre Blanche, Durrheim and Kelly was used to analyse the qualitative data collected from the 16 participants via semi-structured in-depth interviews.

The findings reveal that FFIs are willing to finance women-owned businesses provided they can contribute a reasonable percentage of the equity capital and a first-class collateral. Lack of equity, business experiences and first-class collateral are the most serious challenges faced by FFIs when considering lending to women-owned SMEs.

This study investigated the financing of women-owned SMEs in South Africa from a supply-side perspective, compared to other studies that used quantitative methodology. This study findings provide insights into how FFIs perceive financing women-owned SMEs, women-owned SMEs credit approval rate, the factors that influence the willingness of FFIs to provide credit to women-owned SMEs and the challenges experienced by FFIs in financing women-owned SMEs.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the quality management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) impacts their supply chain financing performance (SCFP). This study also investigates the mediating roles of organisational dependence between quality management and the SCFP of SMEs, as well as the moderating role of environmental dynamics.

Questionnaires were administered to 248 financial managers responsible for supply chain finance (SCF) in SMEs in China. Data analysis techniques used include necessary condition analysis and multiple regression analysis.

Research findings show that, in SCF, the quality management of SMEs positively predicts their SCFP through the mediation of the organisational dependence of the focal enterprises in the supply chain network. Environmental dynamics are also found to moderate the relationship between quality management and SCFP through the organisational dependence of capital providers.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the relationships between SMEs' quality management and their SCFP. Also, this study provides a new theoretical lens through which to study SCF by introducing signalling theory.

Commercial banks are the catalysts for meeting the financing needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, not all commercial banks are equally attractive to SMEs because of differences in banking services’ key attributes. Moreover, customers’ preferences vary between Islamic and conventional banks. This paper aims to identify factors motivating SMEs to establish business ties with banks in Oman.

The authors collected data from 217 SMEs through a questionnaire survey. The data were analyzed using a t-test and structural equation modeling (SEM). In addition, the research applies the theory of planned behavior as a theoretical framework.

The t-test results show that SMEs place greater emphasis on electronic banking, convenient locations, religious beliefs and favorable terms and conditions. The results from the SEM analysis show that the SMEs in Oman consider attractive packages, including favorable rates, transaction processing time, fees and the availability of technology-enabled services, when choosing a bank. Moreover, customers who are aware of Islamic banking products are optimistic about the future of Shariah-based banking.

As a Muslim-majority country, Oman lags behind its Gulf Cooperative Council peers in terms of the development of the Islamic banking system. For the success of this mode of financing, it is essential to know which factors SMEs prioritize to establish ties with Islamic banks. Hence, the research is expected to provide new information for bank management to devise financial products attractive to investors.

The purpose of this study is to examine how existing supply chain finance challenges confronting SMEs are affected by the emergence of smart fintech providers. In so doing the paper aims at uncovering critical role of fintech service provision in SCF and associated mechanisms that affect the SCF partners.

An in-depth case study approach has been applied in this study. The overall design is informed by a 5-stage-based case study approach developed in operation management, including the literature review and research question, followed by case selection and instrument development, the data gathering, the analysis and findings and dissemination.

The study shows that fintech service provider is capable of offering different digital technologies adapted to specific needs while concomitantly orchestrating the information flow across the partners. Key mechanisms that influence the establishment of trust-based relationships among the SCF partners, and related service processes and value creation based on the platform system architecture are explained.

Several practical implications for digital platform management and other key digital SCF partners are identified.

This paper contributes a novel perspective on the importance of digital trust in SCF and also contributes to the existing literature by filling up a gap with a new and fine-grained understanding of the role of fintech companies in SCF.

This study aims to explore the relationship between supply chain financing (SCF) and the business risks of core enterprises, the economic value of SCF for core enterprises and the motivation for core enterprises to participate in SCF. The authors also examine the mediating effects of financing constraints.

This study analyzes the panel data of 393 companies listed on the main board of the A-share market in China from 2011 to 2014 using fixed-effect and intermediary-effect models.

The development of SCF in core enterprises can significantly reduce business risk by alleviating financing constraints.

The study sample is from China’s A-share market, which may limit the ability to generalize results. The indicators used to measure SCF primarily consider commercial credit, which may have affected the accuracy of the study.

This study provides a new basis for core enterprise managers in the manufacturing sector to conduct SCF and control business risks. SCF with small and medium-sized upstream and downstream enterprises can reduce business risks and enhance competitiveness, especially under financing constraints.

This study focuses on core enterprises, a topic less explored in academia. It examines the impact of SCF on their performance and the mediating role of financing constraints. This study offers a novel perspective on the SCF transmission mechanism of supply chain finance and provides new insights for core enterprises.