Misure Di Sostegno E Tensione Finanziaria Nelle Pmi: Il Caso Italiano = Public credit guarantees and Smes’ financial tension: the Italian case

Using a proprietary quarterly database of lending decisions from 31 March 2019 to 31 December 2020, for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Smes) of the Central-Northern Italian area, the paper investigates how the financial measures introduced by Law Decree No. 18 of 17 March 2020 in terms of moratorium of interest could have effectively slacked financial tension during the Covid-19 outbreak. Findings suggest that the financial tension softens in the case of firms characterized by low risk, larger size as well as in presence of strong relationship lending story.

Utilizzando un database proprietario riferito a linee di credito erogate in favore di Pic- cole e medie imprese (Pmi) del Centro-Nord Italia, rilevate su base trimestrale dal 31 marzo 2019 al 31 dicembre 2020, il presente articolo verifica come le misure di sostegno introdotte dal decreto legge n. 18 del 17 marzo 2020, sotto forma di moratoria sui pre- stiti bancari, abbiano potuto mitigare fenomeni di tensione finanziaria durante l’epi- demia Covid-19. I risultati suggeriscono, inoltre, che la tensione finanziaria si allenta nel caso di imprese a basso rischio e di grandi dimensioni, così come in presenza di ga- ranzie personali e di una consolidata conoscenza relazionale tra banca e affidato. Using a proprietary quarterly database of lending decisions from 3/31/2019 to 12/31/2020, for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) of the Central-Northern Italian area, the paper investigates how the financial measures introduced by Law Decree No. 18 of 17 March 2020 in terms of moratorium of interest could have effectively slacked financial tension during the COVID-19 outbreak. Findings suggest that the financial tension softens in the case of firms characterized by low risk, larger size as well as in presence of strong relationship lending story.