IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecb/ecbwps/20151829.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Creditor protection, judicial enforcement and credit access

Author

Listed:
  • Ferrando, Annalisa
  • Moro, Andrea
  • Maresch, Daniela

Abstract

We investigate the role of the judicial system on whether or not the firms obtain the credit they applied for, by looking at the strength of the creditor protection, the strength of property rights, the time for resolving a dispute, its costs and the number of procedures the plaintiff faces. We use data about 48,590 firms from eleven countries collected via the Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (European Central Bank) and data from the World Bank, the Heritage Foundation and Eurostat. The results suggest that the better the judicial enforcement system is (reduced costs, reduced time, and limited number of procedures) and the higher the creditor protection is (high overall strength of the legal system, high property rights protection), the lower the probability that the firms are credit constrained. Our results are robust to selection bias (Heckman selection) as well as different controls and different estimation techniques. More importantly, we find that these variables have considerable economic impact: the probability to obtain credit is up to 40% higher in countries with a better legal system. JEL Classification: G21, G28, K41

Suggested Citation

  • Ferrando, Annalisa & Moro, Andrea & Maresch, Daniela, 2015. "Creditor protection, judicial enforcement and credit access," Working Paper Series 1829, European Central Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20151829
    Note: 235236
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp1829.en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kee‐Hong Bae & Vidhan K. Goyal, 2009. "Creditor Rights, Enforcement, and Bank Loans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(2), pages 823-860, April.
    2. Jappelli, Tullio & Pagano, Marco & Bianco, Magda, 2005. "Courts and Banks: Effects of Judicial Enforcement on Credit Markets," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(2), pages 223-244, April.
    3. 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.
    4. Rainer Haselmann & Paul Wachtel, 2010. "Institutions and Bank Behavior: Legal Environment, Legal Perception, and the Composition of Bank Lending," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(5), pages 965-984, August.
    5. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Utpal Bhattacharya & Hazem Daouk, 2002. "The World Price of Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 75-108, February.
    7. Simeon Djankov & Oliver Hart & Caralee McLiesh & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "Debt Enforcement around the World," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 1105-1149, December.
    8. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & María Pería, 2011. "Bank Financing for SMEs: Evidence Across Countries and Bank Ownership Types," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 39(1), pages 35-54, April.
    9. Elsas, Ralf & Krahnen, Jan Pieter, 1998. "Is relationship lending special? Evidence from credit-file data in Germany," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(10-11), pages 1283-1316, October.
    10. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    11. Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2003. "Do Better Institutions Mitigate Agency Problems? Evidence from Corporate Finance Choices," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 185-212, March.
    12. Utpal Bhattacharya & Hazem Daouk, 2009. "When No Law is Better Than a Good Law," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 13(4), pages 577-627.
    13. Howorth, Carole & Peel, Michael J & Wilson, Nicholas, 2003. "An Examination of the Factors Associated with Bank Switching in the U.K. Small Firm Sector," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 305-317, June.
    14. Katharina Pistor & Martin Raiser & Stanislaw Gelfer, 2000. "Law and Finance in Transition Economies," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 8(2), pages 325-368, July.
    15. Luc Laeven & Christopher Woodruff, 2007. "The Quality of the Legal System, Firm Ownership, and Firm Size," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(4), pages 601-614, November.
    16. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1447-1479 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Esty, Benjamin C. & Megginson, William L., 2003. "Creditor Rights, Enforcement, and Debt Ownership Structure: Evidence from the Global Syndicated Loan Market," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 37-60, March.
    18. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    19. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    20. Berger, Allen N. & Miller, Nathan H. & Petersen, Mitchell A. & Rajan, Raghuram G. & Stein, Jeremy C., 2005. "Does function follow organizational form? Evidence from the lending practices of large and small banks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 237-269, May.
    21. Berger, Allen N & Udell, Gregory F, 1995. "Relationship Lending and Lines of Credit in Small Firm Finance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(3), pages 351-381, July.
    22. Safavian, Mehnaz & Sharma, Siddharth, 2007. "When do creditor rights work?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 484-508, September.
    23. Daniela Fabbri, 2010. "Law Enforcement and Firm Financing: Theory and Evidence," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 8(4), pages 776-816, June.
    24. Daniela Fabbri, 2010. "Law Enforcement and Firm Financing: Theory and Evidence," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 776-816, June.
    25. Levine, Ross, 1998. "The Legal Environment, Banks, and Long-Run Economic Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(3), pages 596-613, August.
    26. Beck, Thorsten & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2008. "Financing patterns around the world: Are small firms different?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 467-487, September.
    27. Levine, Ross, 2002. "Bank-Based or Market-Based Financial Systems: Which Is Better?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 398-428, October.
    28. Claudio A. Piga & Marco Vivarelli, 2004. "Internal and External R&D: A Sample Selection Approach," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 66(4), pages 457-482, September.
    29. Claudio A. Piga & Gianfranco Atzeni, 2007. "R&D Investment, Credit Rationing And Sample Selection," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 149-178, April.
    30. John Ahlquist & Aseem Prakash, 2010. "FDI and the costs of contract enforcement in developing countries," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 43(2), pages 181-200, June.
    31. Ginés Hernández-Cánovas & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2010. "Relationship lending and SME financing in the continental European bank-based system," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 465-482, May.
    32. 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.
    33. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    34. Martinelli, Cesar, 1997. "Small firms, borrowing constraints, and reputation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 91-105, May.
    35. Jun Qian & Philip E. Strahan, 2007. "How Laws and Institutions Shape Financial Contracts: The Case of Bank Loans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(6), pages 2803-2834, December.
    36. Laeven, Luc & Majnoni, Giovanni, 2005. "Does judicial efficiency lower the cost of credit?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1791-1812, July.
    37. Angelini, P. & Di Salvo, R. & Ferri, G., 1998. "Availability and cost of credit for small businesses: Customer relationships and credit cooperatives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 925-954, August.
    38. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1994. "The Benefits of Lending Relationships: Evidence from Small Business Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-37, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Moro, Andrea & Maresch, Daniela & Ferrando, Annalisa & Udell, Gregory F., 2017. "Does employment protection legislation affect credit access? Evidence from Europe," Working Paper Series 2063, European Central Bank.
    2. Nirosha Hewa Wellalage & Stuart Locke & Helen Samujh, 2019. "Corruption, Gender and Credit Constraints: Evidence from South Asian SMEs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 267-280, September.
    3. Consolo, Agostino & Malfa, Federica & Pierluigi, Beatrice, 2018. "Insolvency frameworks and private debt: an empirical investigation," Working Paper Series 2189, European Central Bank.

    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. Falavigna, Greta & Ippoliti, Roberto, 2023. "SMEs’ behavior under financial constraints: An empirical investigation on the legal environment and the substitution effect with tax arrears," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Juan S. Mora-Sanguinetti & Marta Martínez-Matute & Miguel García-Posada, 2017. "Credit, crisis and contract enforcement: evidence from the Spanish loan market," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 361-383, October.
    3. Moro, Andrea & Maresch, Daniela & Ferrando, Annalisa & Udell, Gregory F., 2022. "Funding innovation and the regulatory environment – The role of employment protection legislation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 745-756.
    4. Bertrand, Jérémie & Perrin, Caroline, 2022. "Girls Just Wanna Have Funds? The effect of women-friendly legislation on female-led firms’ access to credit," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Mathur, Ike & Marcelin, Isaac, 2015. "Institutional failure or market failure?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 266-280.
    6. Gregory F Udell, 2015. "SME Access to Intermediated Credit: What Do We Know and What Don't We Know?," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Angus Moore & John Simon (ed.),Small Business Conditions and Finance, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    7. Moro, Andrea & Belghitar, Yacine & Mateus, Cesario, 2021. "National culture and small firms' use of trade credit: Evidence from Europe," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    8. Lenzu, Simone & Manaresi, Francesco, 2018. "Do Marginal Products Differ from User Costs? Micro-Level Evidence from Italian Firms," Working Papers 276, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    9. Daniel Dejuán & Juan S. Mora-Sanguinetti, 2019. "Quality of enforcement and investment decisions. Firm-level evidence from Spain," Working Papers 1927, Banco de España.
    10. Kirschenmann, K., 2010. "The Dynamics in Requested and Granted Loan Terms when Bank and Borrower Interact Repeatedly," Other publications TiSEM 40d5005c-1626-4511-aa8a-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Cerqueiro, G.M., 2009. "Information asymmetries, banking markets, and small business lending," Other publications TiSEM 6b448af8-d15e-4862-923f-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    12. Paulo P. Alves & M. Ricardo Cunha & Luís K. Pacheco & João M. Pinto, 2022. "How Banks Price Loans for LBOs: an Empirical Analysis of Spread Determinants ," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 163-200, December.
    13. Liu, Yixin & Liu, Yu & Wei, Zuobao, 2022. "Property rights protection, financial constraint, and capital structure choices: Evidence from a Chinese natural experiment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    14. Kirschenmann, K., 2010. "The Dynamics in Requested and Granted Loan Terms when Bank and Borrower Interact Repeatedly," Other publications TiSEM 300df022-4701-4773-a8b7-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    15. Greta Falavigna & Roberto Ippoliti, 2022. "Financial constraints, investments, and environmental strategies: An empirical analysis of judicial barriers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2002-2018, July.
    16. Araujo, Aloisio P. & Ferreira, Rafael V.X. & Funchal, Bruno, 2012. "The Brazilian bankruptcy law experience," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 994-1004.
    17. Ginés Hernández-Cánovas & Johanna Koëter-Kant, 2010. "The institutional environment and the number of bank relationships: an empirical analysis of European SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 375-390, May.
    18. Vincenzo Pezone, 2023. "The Real Effects of Judicial Enforcement," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 27(3), pages 889-933.
    19. Kalyvas, Antonios Nikolaos & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel, 2014. "Does business regulation matter for banks in the European Union?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 278-324.
    20. Doris Neuberger & Maurice Pedergnana & Solvig Räthke-Döppner, 2008. "Concentration of Banking Relationships in Switzerland: The Result of Firm Structure or Banking Market Structure?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 33(2), pages 101-126, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Credit Access; Creditor Protection; Judicial System; Property Rights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ecb:ecbwps:20151829. 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: Official Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emieude.html .

    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.