IFin Seminar, Claudia Custodio, Imperial College - "Access to Credit, Exports, and Product Quality"
Institute of Finance
Date: 11 May 2023 / 12:25 - 13:40
Speaker: Claudia Custodio, Imperial College
Title: "Access to Credit, Exports, and Product Quality"
Date: May 11, 2023
Time: 12:25
Room: Virtual over Zoom
Abstract
We show that access to credit is a key barrier in the production and export of high quality goods. We analyze a credit support scheme in Portugal that provided government guarantees on loans to small and medium-sized enterprises. Regression discontinuity estimates based on program eligibility criteria indicate that qualifying firms expanded export activity on both the intensive and extensive margins and increased the quality of exported goods. Panel regressions focusing on a handful of vertically differentiated goods—wine, cork, and olive oil—indicate a similar impact on quality. Our results highlight an understudied mechanism linking financial and economic development.
