Intellectual entrepreneurship and credit risk assessment: the Polish experience

Abstract

By means of a questionnaire survey, this paper ascertains and analyses the use of Intellectual Capital (IC) concepts in the process of credit risk assessment. Traditional financial statements do not present IC information sufficiently; also, the traditional physical collateral model cannot be easily applied. This problem is specially evident in IC-intensive, entrepreneurial firms. Therefore, the question the paper tries to address is: Are the credit analysts dealing with Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) aware of the immaterial part of economy and if so, do they use such information in their credit decisions? The study focuses on the credit analysts in Poland engaged in the credit risk assessment of SMEs. The analysis shows that the use of nonfinancial information is limited. At the same time, the analysts perceive information about IC as relevant for their job and point out that the current credit risk assessment procedures do not allow for the use of such information. The recommendations for improving the credit risk assessment process ends the paper.