Defaulting alone: SME owner numbers and credit risk in Hungary
利用匈牙利2007-2019年全国信用登记数据，研究发现微型企业单一所有者违约概率是四名所有者的两倍，且所有者数量变化短期增加风险、长期降低违约概率。
Ownership structures in small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) significantly influence the dynamics of corporate governance. In SMEs, owners are often managers themselves, hence, the way they work together has implications for firm performance, including its credit risk. This study investigates the relationship between the number of owners and the credit default probability of SMEs, using data from the National Credit Registry for the period between 2007 and 2019 in Hungary. The completeness of the dataset lends significance to the results. The paper shows that whereby micro-enterprises with one owner only can have twice as high credit default probability as micro firms with four owners, this relationship gradually diminishes with increasing firm size. Changes to owner numbers raise credit risk in the initial years immediately after the change. In the long run, this impact converges to an overall decrease in default probabilities, meaning that surviving firms end up being managed better.