Dissertation subject (working title):

“Credit Guarantee Schemes between Euphoria and Scepticism – Concepts and Experiences with Institutional Structures in Europe and Latin America – with Illustrations of Guarantee Banks in Germany and the Building of Credit Guarantee Institutions in Brazil“

In most countries, there are credit guarantee schemes to improve small-business finance. The basic idea is to provide guarantees to commercial banks for loans to borrowers who cannot provide sufficient collateral. In case of the borrower’s default, the bank receives a financial compensation and consequently it is more likely that the bank provides more loans. In addition to this risk-sharing, the guaranteeing institution might have better information on the borrower and provide a positive signal to the bank. However, since information asymmetries exist between the schemes’ stakeholders with opposing interests, there is always the risk of moral hazard. With involvement of many participating public and private institutions, there is a wide variety of set-ups of credit guarantee schemes in the world and even within a single country.

For my doctoral project, I analyse the concepts and experiences of different credit guarantee schemes in Europe and Latin America. The central questions are whether the schemes help or harm, what can be expected from them and finally, what lessons can be learned for replication. Based on field studies, the scheme of German Guarantee Banks (Bürgschaftsbanken) and the institution building process of Brazilian Credit Guarantee Societies (Sociedades de Garantia de Crédito) are illustrated within their national context in more detail. To generalise these findings further, concepts and experiences in other European and Latin American countries are analysed through document and literature research enriched with interviews and discussions with policy makers at conferences.