Access to finance and growth : evidence from Dutch SMEs

This paper studies the impact of access to finance on firm growth for Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 2008 – 2015 in terms of a panel study. Based on a sample of 2,680 SMEs, evidence is found that access to finance is a major growth restraint during the financial crisis and the years afterwards. SMEs were able to grow during the period of crisis (2008 – 2011) but this growth is nonexistent in the post-crisis period (2012 – 2015). Internal financing is available during both periods, however, bank financing is not readily available throughout the time of investigation. Anyhow, trade credit is also used by Dutch SMEs to finance growth. Eventually, it can be concluded that Dutch SMEs are financed according to the pecking order theory during the period of crisis and post-crisis.