IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v46y2015i1p87-117.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firms’ Financing Constraints: Do Perceptions Match the Actual Situation?

Author

Listed:
  • Annalisa Ferrando

    (European Central Bank)

  • Klaas Mulier

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

This paper draws on the SAFE survey on access to finance for a sample of 11,886 firms in the Euro Area which are matched with their nearest neighbour in a balance sheet dataset with 2.3 million firms. We investigate the role of firm characteristics with respect to firms’ perceived financing constraints and actual financing constraints in the period 2009-2011. Low-profit firms are more likely to face actual financing constraints. Low working capital and high leverage ratios explain actual financing constraints to a lesser extent. Further, firms are more likely to perceive access to finance problematic when they have more debt with short-term maturity. Finally, firm age, but not size, is important in explaining both the perceived and the actual financial constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Annalisa Ferrando & Klaas Mulier, 2015. "Firms’ Financing Constraints: Do Perceptions Match the Actual Situation?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 46(1), pages 87-117.
    • Handle: RePEc:eso:journl:v:46:y:2015:i:1:p:87-117
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.esr.ie/article/view/292/104
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Holmstrom, Bengt & Tirole, Jean, 2000. "Liquidity and Risk Management," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(3), pages 295-319, August.
    2. Mark Gertler, 1988. "Financial structure and aggregate economic activity: an overview," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 559-596.
    3. Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 1993. "Working Capital and Fixed Investment: New Evidence on Financing Constraints," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(3), pages 328-342, Autumn.
    4. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    5. Timothy Erickson & Toni M. Whited, 2000. "Measurement Error and the Relationship between Investment and q," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 1027-1057, October.
    6. Fabio Schiantarelli, 1995. "Financial constraints and investment: a critical review of methodological issues and international evidence," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 39, pages 177-226.
    7. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1997. "Trade Credit: Theories and Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 661-691.
    8. Martin Brown & Steven Ongena & Alexander Popov & Pinar Yeşin, 2011. "Who needs credit and who gets credit in Eastern Europe? [Interaction terms in logit and probit models]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 93-130.
    9. Acharya, Viral V. & Almeida, Heitor & Campello, Murillo, 2007. "Is cash negative debt? A hedging perspective on corporate financial policies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 515-554, October.
    10. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Laeven, Luc & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2006. "The determinants of financing obstacles," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 932-952, October.
    11. Schiantarelli, Fabio, 1996. "Financial Constraints and Investment: Methodological Issues and International Evidence," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 70-89, Summer.
    12. Takeo Hoshi & Anil Kashyap & David Scharfstein, 1991. "Corporate Structure, Liquidity, and Investment: Evidence from Japanese Industrial Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(1), pages 33-60.
    13. Ben S. Bernanke & Mark Gertler, 1995. "Inside the Black Box: The Credit Channel of Monetary Policy Transmission," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 27-48, Fall.
    14. Guariglia, Alessandra & Mateut, Simona, 2006. "Credit channel, trade credit channel, and inventory investment: Evidence from a panel of UK firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 2835-2856, October.
    15. Martina Lawless & Fergal McCann, 2013. "Determinants of Default: Evidence from a Sector-level Panel of Irish SME Loans," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 44(4), pages 473-488.
    16. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 2000. "Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities are Useful: A Comment on Kaplan and Zingales," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 695-705.
    17. Lamont, Owen & Polk, Christopher & Saa-Requejo, Jesus, 2001. "Financial Constraints and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 529-554.
    18. Chiara Coluzzi & Annalisa Ferrando & Carmen Martínez-Carrascal, 2009. "Financing obstacles and growth: An analysis for euro area non-financial corporations," Working Papers 0836, Banco de España.
    19. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    20. C. Edward Fee & Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2009. "Investment, Financing Constraints, and Internal Capital Markets: Evidence from the Advertising Expenditures of Multinational Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(6), pages 2361-2392, June.
    21. Love, Inessa & Preve, Lorenzo A. & Sarria-Allende, Virginia, 2007. "Trade credit and bank credit: Evidence from recent financial crises," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 453-469, February.
    22. Annalisa Ferrando & Klaas Mulier, 2015. "Firms’ Financing Constraints: Do Perceptions Match the Actual Situation?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 46(1), pages 87-117.
    23. Dasgupta, Sudipto & Sengupta, Kunal, 2007. "Corporate liquidity, investment and financial constraints: Implications from a multi-period model," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 151-174, April.
    24. Ferrando, Annalisa & Mulier, Klaas, 2015. "The real effects of credit constraints: evidence from discouraged borrowers in the euro area," Working Paper Series 1842, European Central Bank.
    25. Michael Faulkender & Rong Wang, 2006. "Corporate Financial Policy and the Value of Cash," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1957-1990, August.
    26. Ferrando, Annalisa & Griesshaber, Nicolas, 2011. "Financing obstacles among euro area firms: Who suffers the most?," Working Paper Series 1293, European Central Bank.
    27. Carlos A. Molina, 2005. "Are Firms Underleveraged? An Examination of the Effect of Leverage on Default Probabilities," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1427-1459, June.
    28. Filipe Silva & Carlos Carreira, 2012. "Measuring Firms’ Financial Constraints: A Rough Guide," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 36, pages 23-46, December.
    29. Concha Artola & Veronique Genre, 2011. "Euro Area SMEs under Financial Constraints: Belief or Reality?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3650, CESifo.
    30. Joshua D. Rauh, 2006. "Investment and Financing Constraints: Evidence from the Funding of Corporate Pension Plans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 33-71, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. García-Posada Gómez, Miguel, 2019. "Credit constraints, firm investment and employment: Evidence from survey data," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 121-141.
    2. Söhnke M. Bartram, 2017. "Corporate Postretirement Benefit Plans and Real Investment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(2), pages 355-383, February.
    3. Gómez, Miguel García-Posada, 2018. "Credit constraints, firm investment and growth: evidence from survey data," Working Paper Series 2126, European Central Bank.
    4. Schauer, Catharina & Elsas, Ralf & Breitkopf, Nikolas, 2019. "A new measure of financial constraints applicable to private and public firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 270-295.
    5. Kwanglim Seo & Jungtae Soh & Amit Sharma, 2018. "Do financial constraints affect the sensitivity of investment to cash flow? New evidence from franchised restaurant firms," Tourism Economics, , vol. 24(6), pages 645-661, September.
    6. Borisova, Ginka & Brown, James R., 2013. "R&D sensitivity to asset sale proceeds: New evidence on financing constraints and intangible investment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 159-173.
    7. Dongyang Zhang, 2017. "Is working capital management value-enhancing through alleviating financial constraints? Evidence from Chinese non-listed firms," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 373-406, October.
    8. Mulier, Klaas & Schoors, Koen & Merlevede, Bruno, 2016. "Investment-cash flow sensitivity and financial constraints: Evidence from unquoted European SMEs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 182-197.
    9. Almaghrabi, Khadija S., 2023. "Non‐operating risk and cash holdings: Evidence from pension risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    10. Nam, Hocheol & Uchida, Konari, 2019. "Accounts payable and firm value: International evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 116-137.
    11. Laurence Booth & Christos Ntantamis & Jun Zhou, 2015. "Financial Constraints, R&D Investment, and the Value of Cash Holdings," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(04), pages 1-24, December.
    12. Jean-Bernard Chatelain, 2003. "Structural modelling of financial constraints on investment: where do we stand?," Chapters, in: Paul Butzen & Catherine Fuss (ed.), Firms’ Investment and Finance Decisions, chapter 2, pages 40-58, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Théo Nicolas, 2019. "How Do Short-term Financial Constraints Affect SMEs’ Long-Term Investment: Evidence from the Working Capital Channel," Working papers 731, Banque de France.
    14. Natalia Nehrebecka & Aneta Dzik-Walczak, 2016. "Publication selection bias in the sources of financing the enterprises research? A Meta-Regression Analysis," Working Papers 2016-02, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    15. Vijayakumaran, Ratnam, 2021. "Impact of managerial ownership on investment and liquidity constraints: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    16. Franzoni, Francesco, 2009. "Underinvestment vs. overinvestment: Evidence from price reactions to pension contributions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 491-518, June.
    17. Malcolm Athaide & H. K. Pradhan, 2020. "A model of credit constraint for MSMEs in India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1159-1177, December.
    18. Carlos Carreira & Filipe Silva, 2010. "No Deep Pockets: Some Stylized Empirical Results On Firms’ Financial Constraints," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 731-753, September.
    19. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2012. "Do financing constraints matter for R&D?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1512-1529.
    20. Malcolm Athaide & H. K. Pradhan, 0. "A model of credit constraint for MSMEs in India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-19.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    finance; firms; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eso:journl:v:46:y:2015:i:1:p:87-117. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Aedin Doris (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.esr.ie .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.