Unlocking financing opportunities: The impact of the ELITE Program on SMEs’ Financing

• We examine how the ELITE program enhances SMEs... access to external financing. • Participation in ELITE reduces financing costs for SMEs. • ELITE firms restructure their debt, favoring long-term financing over short-term loans. • SMEs in the program reduce bank dependency, increasing bond issuance. • The findings provide policy implications, suggesting that structured growth programs can enhance SMEs... financial stability and resilience. This paper investigates the impact of the ELITE program for SMEs on their ability to access external financing. Leveraging on unique dataset of Italian unlisted companies, we discovered that ELITE firms accessed funding more efficiently than matched controls, experiencing a rise in financial leverage, accompanied by a reduction in the cost of debt. When looking at debt structure, ELITE companies exhibit a restructuring towards longer maturities, with bank debt partially replaced by bond issuance, indicating an openness to market-based finance. Our analysis sheds light on the role of growth programs in mitigating the financing challenges faced by SMEs, offering important insights for academics and practitioners.