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The Dynamics of Trade Credit and Bank Debt in SME Finance: International Evidence

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are of key importance for economic activity, employment and growth in many countries. The European Commission (2005) defines SMEs as firms with fewer than 250 employees, turnover of less than €50 million and total assets less than €43 million. SMEs represent 98 per cent of all firms, and account for 67 per cent of total employment and 56 per cent of total gross value added in the European Union. In 2014 there were approximately 21 million SMEs in the European Union. However, SME finance remains challenging because these firms are more opaque, riskier, more financially constrained, and more bank-dependent than large firms. They cannot access capital markets or issue stocks or bonds. Instead, they largely depend on private debt, such as bank loans or trade credit to raise external finance.