This paper is an attempt to document the impact of fractionalization on the demand of informal finance in India. Using the data provided by the World Bank’s Enterprise Survey, we show that firms headquartered in states/provinces with higher degree of fractionalization are more likely to use informal finance (such as the financing from trade creditors, moneylenders, and friends) than firms headquartered in states/provinces with lower degree of fractionalization. Our results are robust across various proxies of informal finance and various sub-samples. We also report that the effect of fractionalization on the use of informal finance is weaker where state-level or firm-level governance environment is strong. We also show that (when it comes to the use of formal finance) fractionalization is associated with higher use of retained earnings and lower use of funds provided by the banks.

本文试图证明分散化对印度非正式融资需求的影响。使用世界银行《企业调查》提供的数据，我们显示，总部设在各州/省的细分程度较高的公司比总部设在这些州/省的公司更倾向于使用非正式融资（例如来自贸易债权人，放债人和朋友的融资）。州/省的分级程度较低。我们的结果在非正式金融的各种代理和各种子样本中均十分可靠。我们还报告说，在州级或公司级治理环境较强的情况下，细分化对使用非正式融资的影响较弱。