Role of Financial Institutions on Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan

Abstract

Small-scale enterprises highly influence the growth of a country. Small-scale enterprises are fundamental in creating employment opportunities for many people, notably in rural areas. Consequently, the study was determined to examine the role of financial institutions in the growth of small and medium enterprises in Japan. The study did a literature review to explore the findings from the preceding studies. The study findings from the majority of the studies showed that financial institutions play a critical role in the growth of small and medium enterprises. The financial institutions provide services and loans that spur the growth of small and medium enterprises. In addition, the financial institutions are involved in providing the startup capital and this increases the sustainability of the small firms. In some instances, the financial institutions provide capacity building to the small enterprises, increasing their skills and knowledge in the management process. The small-scale enterprises encounter many difficulties and the financial instructions become a channel for accessing funds. The factors that limit small and medium enterprises from accessing the loans from the financial institutions is mainly lack of collateral. The study concluded that financial institutions determined the growth of small and medium enterprises in Japan to a large extent. The study recommended that drastic and effective financial policies which directly increase accessibility to available credits from financial institutions ought to be set in Japan. The government needs to sale up a framework that will make the financial institutions increase their lending to the small and medium enterprises. A specialized borrowing system needs to be developed in the financial institutions to carry out small-scale lending functions. Keywords: Financial institutions, growth, small scale enterprises, Japan