Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises
The Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (SAFE) has been conducted annually since 2011 to gather direct insights from firms about their financial situation and their expectations regarding external financing. The data is also used as a source in the analysis of macroeconomic trends.
In the online survey firms are asked about their need for and access to external financing, their submitted applications, and their success in obtaining external financing, as well as their expectations in this regard. Analysing the survey data allows us to assess the current situation, to make year-on-year comparisons, and to evaluate firms’ intentions with regard to external financing and investments.
The survey is conducted on a stratified sample of micro, small, medium-size, and large enterprises in the sectors of industry, construction, trade and services. The sample covers just over 3,000 firms, with an overall response rate of around 30%. The survey is based on an adapted European Central Bank questionnaire (SAFE).
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Methodological notes
The survey data for the previous year (t-1) is provisional, as the final data on the number of employees in each sector by firm size is not yet available.
The survey data for the current year (t) is also provisional, as the data on the total number of employees by sector and firm size is not yet available. The conversion of the survey data for the current year uses the total number of employees by sector and firm size from the previous year.
In the survey on the access to finance of enterprises, firms are divided into strata based on size and activity. To calculate the data by strata, use is made of sampling weights, which are equal to the inverse probability of selection in the sample, adjusted for non-response. It is assumed that non-responses do not significantly differ from responses.
When data is aggregated by firm size, activity, and for all firms, a challenge arises due to the huge variation in the number of firms in each stratum. For instance there are relatively few large enterprises but many micro enterprises. Consequently when data is aggregated by activitysector, the responses from micro enterprises tend to dominate over those from other types of firm, making the results for a given activity closely resemble the responses of micro enterprises in that activity.
To address this, the qualitative data is aggregated using a weight that reflects each firm’s significance to the economy (size weight). To calculate aggregated data by firm size and activity, data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) on the total number of employees in each activity by firm size is used.
The calculation of the financing gap indicator is based on ECB methodology. The ECB [1] derives the indicator from survey questions on the need for specific factors (demand) and their availability (supply). The calculated financing gap measures the difference between the need for and availability of external financing.
Based on firms’ responses to questions about the availability of and demand for financing, the financing gap is identified (two-sided, one-sided, neutral) at the firm level, and an appropriate weight is assigned to each firm.
A two-sided change in the financing gap occurs when demand increases and availability worsens (the financing gap widens; weight 1), or conversely, when demand decreases and availability improves (the financing gap narrows; weight -1). A one-sided change in the financing gap applies to firms that report an increase or decrease in one factor (demand or availability) while the other factor remains unchanged. One-sided changes in the financing gap are assigned weights of 0.5 or -0.5. A neutral change in the financing gap applies to firms that report no change in either factor or a change in one factor in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. Neutral changes are assigned a weight of 0.
The calculation includes only firms that indicated their use of financing,[2] meaning that they used a specific source of financing in the past or deemed it relevant.
This data is used to calculate the net financing gap for a source of financing as the average of the weights (financing gaps) of the firms for that source. The net financing gap is multiplied by 100 to express it as a percentage. This indicator measures the difference between the share of positive and negative responses for a given source of financing. The net financing gap defines the mismatch between the availability of and demand for financing. A positive indicator signifies that firms perceive that their demand for financing has increased more than availability, indicating a widening financing gap. Conversely a negative indicator signifies that the increase in demand was smaller than the improvement in availability, indicating a narrowing financing gap.
The overall financing gap indicator for all sources of financing is calculated by aggregating the data by source into a financing gap indicator at the firm level. On this basis the overall indicator (average) is computed for all firms and by firm size (Figure 15). The financing gap indicator is positive when demand for external financing exceeds availability. If the demand for external financing increases and availability worsens, the financing gap widens. Conversely if demand decreases and availability improves, the financing gap narrows.
[1] The methodology for calculating the financing gap indicator is described in the article available at https://www.bis.org/ifc/publ/ifcb36s.pdf.
[2] The following external financing sources are considered: (i) bank loans, (ii) trade credits, (iii) equity, (iv) overdrafts, credit lines, and credit card balances, and (v) leasing. The calculation includes only firms that used external financing in the current or previous years.