Das Finanzierungsverhalten deutscher Unternehmen – Hinweise auf eine Kreditklemme?

The Financing Behavior of German Firms – Indications of a Credit Crunch?This article examines the financing behavior of German firms in the period 2000–2006. The analyses show that the investment volumes of non-listed small and medium-sized firms, which – insofar as external sources of finance are concerned – depend on bank lendings to an especially large extent, are strongly determined by internal resources. Moreover, small and medium-sized firms – unlike listed and large non-listed firms – are not able to substitute other financial resources for bank loans. The results of this article suggest that the decline in the aggregated credit volume in the period under review does not exclusively represent a response to structural changes on the demand side. They rather indicate the existence of supply-oriented disturbances in the credit market ("credit crunch„) adversely affecting the firms examined to varying degrees