Impact of the 2008 crisis on credit rationing for French SMEs
Credit rationing is a classical phenomenon studied for a long period but the last financial crisis put it in the news. SMEs are particularly affected by this phenomenon and may be the main victims of the financial crisis and economic situation. This paper tries to estimate the scale of credit rationing for French SMEs over the period 2000-2008. French SMEs seem rationed throughout the period and especially in 2008, the year of financial crisis. The most rationed SME are younger, have a higher growth rate, emit less cash-flow and have fewer assets available to be guaranteed.