Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process applied to technology credit scorecard considering entrepreneurs’ psychological and behavioral attributes

Abstract

As an innovative financing scheme for small and medium enterprises, credit guarantee is given for the loan of firms based on their technologies. To screen the applicant-firms, typical technology credit scoring models consider technology-related factors such as level of technology, profitability, and marketability of technology along with management characteristics, firm characteristics, and economic factors. However, psychological and behavioral attributes of entrepreneurs of the applicant-firms have received comparatively less attention, though an entrepreneur’ personal traits are likely to significantly affect the management in a small and medium enterprise. In this paper, we propose a technology credit scorecard that additionally accommodates applicant’s intelligence, personality, integrity, verbal communication, and non-verbal behaviors. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process allows to determine the relative importance of these attributes. The proposed scorecard is expected to decrease the risk involved in technology credit funding.