Historical financing of small- and medium-size enterprises

We focus on the economies of the North Atlantic Core during the 19th and early 20th centuries and find that an impressive variety of local financial institutions emerged to supply the needs of SMEs wherever there was sufficient demand for their services. Although these intermediaries had significant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Banking & Finance
Main Authors: Cull, Robert, Davis, Lance E., Lamoreaux, Naomi, Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2006
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Online Access:https://authors.library.caltech.edu/13238/
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/13238/1/CULjbf06.pdf
https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:CULjbf06
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Summary:We focus on the economies of the North Atlantic Core during the 19th and early 20th centuries and find that an impressive variety of local financial institutions emerged to supply the needs of SMEs wherever there was sufficient demand for their services. Although these intermediaries had significant weaknesses, they were able to tap into local information networks and so extend credit to firms that were too young or small to secure funds from large regional or national institutions. In addition, by raising the return to savings for local households, they helped to mobilize significant new resources for economic development.