Access to credit for SMEs after the 2008 financial crisis: the Northern Italian perspective

Small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in their economies as key generators of employment and income and as drivers of innovation and growth. The 2008 economic and financial crisis has had a negative impact on bank lending, and likely on SMEs' life. Through a sample of 166 Italian firms, this chapter tries to gain a better understanding of the access to credit by SMEs and to identify the main difficulties faced by SMEs when trying to raise their credit. It details a national perspective by studying Italian firms. The chapter measures the difficulties faced by Italian SMEs in obtaining financing, considering two periods, before (during the crisis) and after 2013. Instead of using arbitrary measures produced by classical methods, it uses the Rasch model that is able to convert raw scores into a linear and reproducible measurement.