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Why Have Lending Programs Targeting Disadvantaged Small-Business Borrowers Achieved So Little Success in the United States?

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  • Bates, Timothy

    (Wayne State University, Detroit)

  • Lofstrom, Magnus

    (Public Policy Institute of California)

  • Servon, Lisa

    (The New School)

Abstract

Small business lending programs designed to move disadvantaged low-income people into business ownership have been difficult to implement successfully in the U.S. context. Based in part on the premise that financing requirements are an entry barrier limiting the ability of aspiring entrepreneurs to create small businesses, these programs are designed to alleviate such barriers for low net-worth individuals with limited borrowing opportunities. Our analysis tracks through time nationally representative samples of adults to investigate the role of financial constraints and other factors delineating self-employment entrants from nonentrants. Paying particular attention to lines of business most accessible to adults lacking college credentials and substantial personal net worth, our analysis yields no evidence that financial capital constraints are a significant barrier to small-firm creation.

Suggested Citation

  • Bates, Timothy & Lofstrom, Magnus & Servon, Lisa, 2010. "Why Have Lending Programs Targeting Disadvantaged Small-Business Borrowers Achieved So Little Success in the United States?," IZA Discussion Papers 5212, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5212
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fairlie, Robert W, 1999. "The Absence of the African-American Owned Business: An Analysis of the Dynamics of Self-Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(1), pages 80-108, January.
    2. Robert W. Fairlie & Alicia M. Robb, 2007. "Why Are Black-Owned Businesses Less Successful than White-Owned Businesses? The Role of Families, Inheritances, and Business Human Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(2), pages 289-323.
    3. Erik Hurst & Annamaria Lusardi, 2004. "Liquidity Constraints, Household Wealth, and Entrepreneurship," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 319-347, April.
    4. Douglas Holtz-Eakin & David Joulfaian & Harvey S. Rosen, 1994. "Entrepreneurial Decisions and Liquidity Constraints," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(2), pages 334-347, Summer.
    5. William D. Bradford, 2003. "The Wealth Dynamics of Entrepreneurship for Black and White Families in the U.S," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 49(1), pages 89-116, March.
    6. Bates, Timothy, 1990. "Entrepreneur Human Capital Inputs and Small Business Longevity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(4), pages 551-559, November.
    7. Scott Shane, 2009. "Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 141-149, August.
    8. Ken Cavalluzzo & John Wolken, 2005. "Small Business Loan Turndowns, Personal Wealth, and Discrimination," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(6), pages 2153-2178, November.
    9. Fairlie, Robert, 1999. "The Absence of the African-American Owned Business: An Analysis of the Dynamics of Self-Employment," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt84v8v0nr, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    10. David G. Blanchflower & Phillip B. Levine & David J. Zimmerman, 2003. "Discrimination in the Small-Business Credit Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 930-943, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Craig Wesley Carpenter & Scott Loveridge, 2018. "Differences Between Latino-Owned Businesses and White-, Black-, or Asian-Owned Businesses: Evidence From Census Microdata," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 32(3), pages 225-241, August.
    2. Naiquan Liu & Xinyue Ye & Huimin Yang & Ying Li & Mark Leipnik, 2014. "Manufacturing firm heterogeneity and regional economic growth difference in China," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 213-230, June.
    3. William D. Bradford, 2014. "The “Myth†That Black Entrepreneurship Can Reduce the Gap in Wealth Between Black and White Families," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(3), pages 254-269, August.
    4. Paige Clayton, 2024. "Different outcomes for different founders? Local organizational sponsorship and entrepreneurial finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 23-62, January.
    5. Craig Wesley Carpenter, 2016. "The Impact Of Latino-Owned Business On Local Economic Performance," Working Papers 16-34, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Craig Wesley Carpenter & Scott Loveridge, 2019. "A spatial model of growth relationships and Latino-owned business," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 63(3), pages 541-557, December.
    7. Stephan J. Goetz & Anil Rupasingha, 2014. "The Determinants of Self-Employment Growth," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(1), pages 42-60, February.
    8. Craig Wesley Carpenter, 2016. "The Dynamics Of Latino-Owned Business With Comparisions To Other Ethnicities," Working Papers 16-33, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    9. Craig Wesley Carpenter & Scott Loveridge, 2020. "Business, Owner, and Regional Characteristics in Latino-owned Business Growth: An Empirical Analysis Using Confidential Census Microdata," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 43(3), pages 254-285, May.
    10. Timothy Bates & Alicia Robb, 2013. "Greater Access to Capital Is Needed to Unleash the Local Economic Development Potential of Minority-Owned Businesses," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 27(3), pages 250-259, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employment; entrepreneurship; micro-lending;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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