Credit and New Entrepreneurs

This book is concerned with problems relating to access to appropriate finance for small and/or new firms – in particular traditional bank finance – and assumes that these can be a major hindrance to growth and general success.
Following on from an international conference in Rome, this book documents the proceedings and is comprised of four parts:
• articularly considering the "social economy" and employment issues.
• Various articles focusing on background issues for small enterprises, specifically financial problems including a study on the reasons for barriers to access in the credit market for small and new firms. Also, consideration of the effect and cost of assistance, the existence of informal finance, usury and empirical data from Greece, France and Germany.
• A description of the different approaches for lending to small enterprises (local, alternative, public and traditional).
• Practical examples of instruments to overcome obstacles for small firm finance, based on a range of case studies from traditional bank and other banking initiatives.
Each section is prefaced by an introductory chapter.