TY  - JOUR
AU  - Cull,Robert
AU  - Davis,Lance E.
AU  - Lamoreaux,Naomi R.
AU  - Rosenthal,Jean-Laurent
TI  - Historical Financing of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11695
PY  - 2005
Y2  - October 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11695
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11695.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Robert Cull
World Bank
E-Mail: rcull@worldbank.org

Lance E. Davis
Humanities and Social Sciences
California Institute of Technology
1200 East California Boulevard MC 228-77
Pasadena, CA  91125
Tel: 626/395-4092
Fax: 626/793-8580
E-Mail: led@hss.caltech.edu

Naomi R. Lamoreaux
Department of Economics
Yale University
27 Hillhouse Ave., Rm. 39
Box 208269
New Haven, CT 06520-8269
Tel: 203-432-3625
Fax: 203-432-3635
E-Mail: naomi.lamoreaux@yale.edu

Jean-Laurent Rosenthal
Division of Humanities and Social Sciences
California Institute of Technology
1200 E. California Blvd.
MC 228-77
Pasadena, CA 91125
Tel: 626/395-4058
Fax: 626/395-4065
E-Mail: jlr@hss.caltech.edu
AB  - We focus on the economies of the North Atlantic Core during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and find that an impressive variety of local financial institutions emerged to supply the needs of SMEs wherever there was sufficient demand for their services. Although these intermediaries had significant weaknesses, they were able to tap into local information networks and so extend credit to firms that were too young or small to secure funds from large regional or national institutions. In addition, by raising the return to savings for local households, they helped to mobilize significant new resources for economic development.
ER  -