SBA – Wide-ranging Review of Small Firm Financial Markets Features Data from Survey of Small Business Finances

Access to credit, a top issue for small businesses in the
current climate, is the focus of a new compendium of studies sponsored by the
Office of Advocacy. The structure of small business financial markets has been
changing dramatically over recent decades, as large financial institutions have
increased in importance. Small Business in Focus: Finance
(http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/09finfocus.pdf) was released today at an
Advocacy symposium.

“In this time of financial challenges, it is particularly important to understand
small business borrowers and the markets that serve them,” said Advocacy
Senior Economist Charles Ou. “We hope that this compendium and today’s
symposium will be a starting place for ongoing discussions of the small firm
financial markets, as well as the datasets available to understand them.” Dr.
Ou will retire in July after 32 years of service.

The studies featured in the compendium are based primarily on the 2003
Survey of Small Business Finances (SSBF). The SSBF has been one of the
highest quality data sets for analyzing the credit issues faced by small firms.
The Federal Reserve Board conducted the SSBF in 1987, 1993, 1997, and 2003
and will rely on the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances for future data on
business-owning households. Four studies are featured:

* A report by Advocacy economists Charles Ou and Victoria Williams
provides an overview of small business borrowers, the credit and capital
markets that serve them, and small business borrowing patterns.

* A paper by George Haynes and James Brown explores in detail small
business financing patterns, including the relative importance of banks, thrifts,
and finance companies in these markets. The share of small firms using any
credit increased from almost 80 percent in 1993 to almost 90 percent in 2003.

* A second paper by the same authors looks at the critical importance of
internal funding for small business growth and finds that the relationship
between internal funds and employment growth is especially important for very
small and women-owned firms.

* A study by Rebel Cole looks at the credit markets and identifies four kinds
of small businesses: nonborrowers, approved borrowers, discouraged
borrowers, and denied borrowers. In each of the three SSBFs, Cole finds that
firms owned by African Americans are 10 to 18 percent more likely to be
rejected than other firms, even after incorporating an extensive set of control
variables available from the SSBFs.

The full studies are available online at http://www.sba.gov/advo/. The Office of
Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal government, examines
the role and status of small business in the economy and independently
represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the
President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-
friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.

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The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an
independent voice for small business within the federal government. The
presidentially appointed Chief Counsel for Advocacy advances the views,
concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House,
federal agencies, federal courts, and state policymakers. For more
information, visit http://www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.

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