An Analysis of Malaysian SMEs' Access to Public Financial Assistance

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the types of firms for which government financial support for SMEs is provided in Malaysia. The financial data of privately held and publicly traded companies are used and a probit model is estimated with qualitative variables as explained variables. The estimation results of the probit model reveal that the more Bumiputras are included as the ethnic composition of the board of directors. The more support they have received, the more fixed assets a company has, and the more support it receives. Firms with poor corporate performance tend to be more likely to receive financial assistance. Since the length of operation and ROE are not statistically significant, length of operation and ROE do not seem to have a significant effect on government financial support. The study finds that government financial support through development finance institutions is related to the ethnic composition of the board members. And the more difficult it is for SMEs to borrow from banks on a commercial basis, the more government financial support they receive.