Internet start-ups access to the bank loan market: evidence from Italy

The analysis of the bank sector's ability to efficiently fuel the birth of new Italian business ventures in Internet-related services is studied. In particular, through the specification and the estimate of a series of econometric models, this paper aims at investigating which characteristics of a large sample of Internet start-ups and their relative founders facilitate access to the loan market. More precisely, the role played by founders' human capital as a possible significant signal used by banks to evaluate investment projects is addressed. Estimation results suggest that highly qualified human resources possessed by Internet founders do not represent an important driver for gaining access to bank credit and they do not affect the amount of the incurred debt.