IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v63y2024i4d10.1007_s11187-024-00910-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local banking development and SME conservative financing policy. Does bank branch density matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Paulo Miguel Gama

    (Univ Coimbra, CeBER, Faculty of Economics)

  • Fátima Sol Murta

    (Univ Coimbra, CeBER, Faculty of Economics)

  • Elisabete S. Vieira

    (GOVCOPP Unit Research, ISCA-UA)

Abstract

Does bank branch density matter for the conservative financing puzzle? This paper looks at the importance of nearby physical banking services to the decision to eschew debt among SMEs. Our multivariate logistic models rely on recent information from Portugal, a small open bank-based European economy, and control for firm-level and municipality-level effects. We show that banks' branch density at the municipality level increases the odds of local SMEs following a conservative financing policy. However, the weight of local cooperative bank branches relates negatively to the odds of not using debt. Several robustness checks concerning sampling procedures, estimation methods, and variables’ definitions corroborate our baseline results. Moreover, our results show that the effect of bank branches on the decision to eschew debt is economically more relevant for the long-term than the short-term debt.

Suggested Citation

  • Paulo Miguel Gama & Fátima Sol Murta & Elisabete S. Vieira, 2024. "Local banking development and SME conservative financing policy. Does bank branch density matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 1747-1765, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:63:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-024-00910-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-024-00910-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-024-00910-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-024-00910-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hasan, Iftekhar & Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kowalewski, Oskar & Kozłowski, Łukasz, 2017. "Do local banking market structures matter for SME financing and performance? New evidence from an emerging economy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 142-158.
    2. Zheng, Xiaolan & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y., 2012. "National culture and corporate debt maturity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 468-488.
    3. Giuseppe Arcuri & Nadine Levratto, 2020. "Early stage SME bankruptcy: does the local banking market matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 421-436, February.
    4. Petach, Luke & Weiler, Stephan & Conroy, Tessa, 2021. "It’s a wonderful loan: local financial composition, community banks, and economic resilience," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Raoul Minetti & Pierluigi Murro & Valentina Peruzzi, 2021. "Not All Banks Are Equal: Cooperative Banking And Income Inequality," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(1), pages 420-440, January.
    7. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    8. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2009. "Does Local Financial Development Matter?," Springer Books, in: Damiano Bruno Silipo (ed.), The Banks and the Italian Economy, chapter 0, pages 31-66, Springer.
    9. Vivien Lefebvre, 2021. "Zero-debt capital structure and the firm life cycle: empirical evidence from privately held SMEs," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 371-387, October.
    10. Zhiqiang Lu & Junjie Wu & Hongyu Li & Duc Khuong Nguyen, 2022. "Local Bank, Digital Financial Inclusion and SME Financing Constraints: Empirical Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(6), pages 1712-1725, May.
    11. Dang, Viet Anh, 2013. "An empirical analysis of zero-leverage firms: New evidence from the UK," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 189-202.
    12. Leora Klapper & Annamaria Lusardi, 2020. "Financial literacy and financial resilience: Evidence from around the world," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(3), pages 589-614, September.
    13. Lai, Kam-Wah, 2011. "The cost of debt when all-equity firms raise sfinance: The role of investment opportunities, audit quality and debt maturity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1931-1940, August.
    14. Maddalena Galardo & Iconio Garrì & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli & Davide Revelli, 2021. "The geography of banking: Evidence from branch closings," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 50(1), February.
    15. Marc Deloof & Maurizio Rocca, 2015. "Local financial development and the trade credit policy of Italian SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 905-924, April.
    16. Hossain, Monzur & Yoshino, Naoyuki & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2021. "Optimal branching strategy, local financial development, and SMEs’ performance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 421-432.
    17. Saona, Paolo & Vallelado, Eleuterio & San Martín, Pablo, 2020. "Debt, or not debt, that is the question: A Shakespearean question to a corporate decision," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 378-392.
    18. Sumit Agarwal, 2010. "Distance and Private Information in Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2757-2788, July.
    19. Krzysztof Jackowicz & Łukasz Kozłowski & Adrian Strucinski, 2020. "SMEs and their bank choices: trust-related factors or economic calculations?," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(8), pages 2092-2116, June.
    20. Lv, Chengchao & Shao, Changhua & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2021. "Green technology innovation and financial development: Do environmental regulation and innovation output matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    21. Petkov, Ivan, 2023. "Small business lending and the bank-branch network," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    22. Sadok El Ghoul & Omrane Guedhami & Chuck Kwok & Xiaolan Zheng, 2018. "Zero-Leverage Puzzle: An International Comparison," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1063-1120.
    23. Bessler, Wolfgang & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Haller, Rebekka & Meier, Iwan, 2013. "The international zero-leverage phenomenon," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 196-221.
    24. Kraus, Alan & Litzenberger, Robert H, 1973. "A State-Preference Model of Optimal Financial Leverage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 28(4), pages 911-922, September.
    25. Marc Cowling & Neil Lee & Elisa Ughetto, 2020. "The price of a disadvantaged location: Regional variation in the price and supply of short-term credit to SMEs in the UK," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(3), pages 648-668, May.
    26. Haddad, Kamal & Lotfaliei, Babak, 2019. "Trade-off theory and zero leverage," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 165-170.
    27. Myers, Stewart C., 1984. "Capital structure puzzle," Working papers 1548-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    28. Zou, Yang & Wang, Xiaoming, 2022. "Distance, information and bank lending in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    29. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    30. Anton Miglo, 2020. "Zero-Debt Policy under Asymmetric Information, Flexibility and Free Cash Flow Considerations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-25, November.
    31. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Capital Structure Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 1393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Marc Deloof & Maurizio La Rocca & Tom Vanacker, 2019. "Local Banking Development and the Use of Debt Financing by New Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(6), pages 1250-1276, November.
    33. Strebulaev, Ilya A. & Yang, Baozhong, 2013. "The mystery of zero-leverage firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 1-23.
    34. Hoai-Luu Q. Nguyen, 2019. "Are Credit Markets Still Local? Evidence from Bank Branch Closings," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 1-32, January.
    35. Zhen Huang & Wanli Li & Weiwei Gao, 2017. "Why do firms choose zero-leverage policy? Evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(28), pages 2736-2748, June.
    36. Diana Bonfim & Gil Nogueira & Steven Ongena, 2021. "“Sorry, We're Closed” Bank Branch Closures, Loan Pricing, and Information Asymmetries [Distance and private information in lending]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 25(4), pages 1211-1259.
    37. María-José Palacín-Sánchez & Filippo di Pietro, 2016. "The Role of the Regional Financial Sector in the Capital Structure of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 1232-1247, July.
    38. J. Fitzgerald & J. Ryan, 2019. "The impact of firm characteristics on speed of adjustment to target leverage: a UK study," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 315-327, January.
    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. Morais, Flávio & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S., 2022. "Capital structure speed of adjustment heterogeneity across zero leverage and leveraged European firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Michael Espindola Araki & Henrique Castro Martins, 2022. "Integrating uncertainty and governance into a capital structure puzzle: can risk-taking and rule-taking explain zero-leverage firms?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1979-2034, August.
    3. Morais, Flávio & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S., 2020. "The zero-leverage phenomenon: A bivariate probit with partial observability approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    4. Saona, Paolo & Vallelado, Eleuterio & San Martín, Pablo, 2020. "Debt, or not debt, that is the question: A Shakespearean question to a corporate decision," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 378-392.
    5. Saona, Paolo & San-Martin, Pablo & Vallelado, Eleuterio, 2024. "The zero-debt puzzle in BRICS countries: Disentangling the financial flexibility and financial constraints hypotheses," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    6. Bigelli, Marco & Martín-Ugedo, Juan Francisco & Sánchez-Vidal, F. Javier, 2014. "Financial conservatism of private firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2419-2427.
    7. Anton Miglo, 2020. "Zero-Debt Policy under Asymmetric Information, Flexibility and Free Cash Flow Considerations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-25, November.
    8. Elena Alexandra Nenu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2018. "The Impact of Capital Structure on Risk and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence for the Bucharest Stock Exchange Listed Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-29, April.
    9. Sardo, Filipe & Serrasqueiro, Zélia & Armada, Manuel Rocha, 2024. "Is the zero-leverage policy a persistent phenomenon? Evidence from Portuguese SMEs," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Zaman, Qamar Uz & Hassan, M. Kabir & Akhter, Waheed & Meraj, M.A., 2018. "From interest tax shield to dividend tax shield: A corporate financing policy for equitable and sustainable wealth creation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 144-162.
    11. Uz Zaman, Qamar & Ehsan, Sadaf & Hassan, Mohammad Kabir & Javed, Muzhar & Ul Hassan, Syed Iftikhar, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Zero Leverage," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(1), pages 33-46.
    12. Hossain, Mohammed Sawkat, 2021. "A revisit of capital structure puzzle: Global evidence and analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 657-678.
    13. Machokoto, Michael & Chipeta, Chimwemwe & Aftab, Nadeem & Areneke, Geofry, 2021. "The financial conservatism of firms in emerging economies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    14. Olivier Butzbach & Domenico Sarno, 2019. "To What Extent Do Regional Effects Influence Firms’ Capital Structure? The Case of Southern Italian SMEs’," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-20, January.
    15. Vu Tuan Chu & Trang Hanh Lam Pham, 2021. "Zero leverage and product market competition," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 1-18, April.
    16. Lindner, Thomas & Muellner, Jakob & Puck, Jonas, 2016. "Cost of Capital in an International Context: Institutional Distance, Quality, and Dynamics," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 234-248.
    17. Minetti, Raoul & Murro, Pierluigi & Paiella, Monica, 2015. "Ownership structure, governance, and innovation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 165-193.
    18. Francesco Fasano & Tiziana Rocca, 2024. "Does the bank-firm human relationship still matter for SMEs? The game-changing role of digitalization," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 159-178, January.
    19. Satish Kumar & Riya Sureka & Sisira Colombage, 2020. "Capital structure of SMEs: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 70(4), pages 535-565, November.
    20. Lindner, Thomas & Puck, Jonas & Stocco, Giulia, 2023. "Asymmetric risk perception and firm financing in the institutional envelope," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Zero-leverage; Conservative finance; SME; Local banking development; Logit;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    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:kap:sbusec:v:63:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-024-00910-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.