The Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and banking finance

Abstract

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a prominent role in the development and economy of Brazil. Despite its importance, there is a lack of studies on the segment. The objective of this research was to investigate the issues related to obtaining bank financing for SMEs. The non-probabilistic sample consists of 359 companies in the state of São Paulo and registered in DEMPI (Department of Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Industry) of FIESP (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo). The data collection instrument was a questionnaire with closed questions sent by e-mail to the owner of the company. The results showed that: a) 90.1% of the companies requesting bank financing had their application approved, and 50.6% were able to receive the full amount requested; b) more than half of the companies requested bank financing for working capital associated with fixed investment; c) with respect to the size, micro-sized enterprises requested more funding for working capital, small businesses requested more funding for working capital associated with fixed investment and medium-sized enterprises requested more funding for investment; d) the respondents had low knowledge of the credit guarantee funds