Anita Quas

The traditional public purpose of development banks is to promote economic development by mitigating market failures in the provision of finance to public and private initiatives. However, the dynamic theory of public banks suggests that development banks functions and actions are not predetermined, but rather depend on the dynamic economic, social and political context in which they are embedded. In this paper, we focus on the case of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), and analyse how its mission expanded since its privatization in 2003, till and further its recognition as the Italian National Development Bank in 2015. We find that CDP range of action expanded rapidly under political, economic and institutional pressures (especially from European institutions), sometimes beyond what is traditionally expected of public banks. We also analyse how CDP corporate governance evolved, highlighting strengths and weaknesses with respect to other European Development banks.

This paper investigates the relationship between micro-entrepreneurs’ financial literacy and access to bank credit. We theorise that financially literate micro-entrepreneurs are more likely both to apply for a needed bank loan and to obtain it. Using data on a representative sample of Italian micro-entrepreneurs surveyed by the Bank of Italy in 2021, we find that financial literacy boosts their chances to ask for credit when their firm needs it, i.e., they are less likely to be “discouraged borrowers”. Instead, financial literacy does not affect the chances to obtain the requested loans. We reveal two mechanisms which partially explain these relationships: financially literate micro-entrepreneurs are more likely to seek professional advice and to be aware of the existence of public guarantee schemes, both of which improve the chances of loan application. Our results suggest that policies aimed at strengthening financial literacy effectively complement traditional supply-side measures to reduce micro-entrepreneurs’ credit constraints.

In this paper, we rely on the information asymmetries framework and relationship lending theory to study how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)’s access to bank credit improves after the issuance of a Minibond. Minibonds are fixed-income securities issued by SMEs aimed at supporting growth projects and refinancing operations. They were introduced by different European countries only recently, in response to the European sovereign debt crisis, which considerably constrained bank credit for SMEs. Using a representative sample of Italian companies that issued Minibonds in the 2012–2020 period, we find support to our hypotheses. Issuing Minibonds helps SMEs access higher amounts of debt and improves credit conditions in terms of cost of debt and debt maturity, but with some caveats: only Minibonds issued with lower interest rates and longer maturities lead to better access to credit. Moreover, we find that some companies more exposed to information asymmetries (i.e. younger), with better access to transaction lending (depending on their location) and with larger amounts of collateral available (i.e., tangible assets) benefit more from Minibond issuance.

This paper investigates the relationship between the financial literacy of micro-entrepreneurs and their access to bank credit, drawing on data from a survey conducted by the Bank of Italy among a representative sample of Italian companies with fewer than 10 employees. Among those who require some external finance, we explore whether micro-entrepreneurs' financial literacy influences (i) the propensity to apply for the necessary bank loan, and (ii) the likelihood of bank approval. We find that micro-entrepreneurs with higher financial literacy are more likely to apply for a loan, i.e. they are less likely to be 'discouraged borrowers'. However, financial literacy does not significantly affect the likelihood of loan approval. We also shed light on two mechanisms underlying the relationship between financial literacy and borrowers' discouragement: entrepreneurs with higher financial literacy are more likely to seek professional advice and to be aware of the existence of public guarantee schemes in support of SMEs' access to credit, which in turn improve the chances of them applying for a bank loan.