The political economy of SME financing and Japan's regional bank problems

Japan's regional bank problems are accumulating non-performing loans, lack of diversification, and the absence of effective competition. We argue that the problems should be addressed in conjunction with the financing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the political interests of the central and regional governments. The political interests may necessitate funding suboptimal investment projects of regional SMEs or keeping non-performing SMEs alive. In particular, loan repayment guarantees reduce the banks' incentives to screen loan applications, increase the chances that poorer quality projects get funded, and harm competition by deterring entry of other banks. We also offer some policy implications.