ABSTRACT
In the past, there has been a conceded effort on the part of governments to facilitate access to finance for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through public policy, as these firms represent the economic backbone of most industrialized countries. However, many attempts have had very little impact on SMEs as a whole. In the search for better policy tools, governments have begun to promote the development of public–private partnerships (PPPs) involving firms, financial institutions, and public managers, to provide a more stable financial structure for SME growth. This chapter uses the Managerial Flow framework to analyze the role of strategy, coordination, selection, governance and knowledge management in the context of SME financing in Italy. The study focuses specifically on the case of the Italian Central Guarantee Fund (CGF), and its partnering role in developing Italian SMEs. We focus on the CGF’s guarantee role in the process of bank lending for SMEs. Using the Managerial Flow framework of Vecchi and Brusoni (2012), we identify the gaps in the design and execution of the Italian CGF policy.
