Giving second chances: the impact of personal attitudes of bankers on their willingness to provide credit to renascent entrepreneurs

Following recent public and scientific discussions on credit provision for entrepreneurs and credit management policies of banks, this study’s objective is to examine the effect of personal attitudes of bankers on their willingness to consider credit applications from renascent entrepreneurs. Previously, applications from renascent entrepreneurs were automatically rejected. Recently, more and more banks leave the evaluation of these applications to the bankers themselves. In the current study (n = 608) we use an attitudinal perspective to suggest how bankers’ entrepreneurial attitudes, their commitment to credit applications, their perceptions of bankruptcy (in terms of stigmatization and learning opportunities), and their past experience with credit provision to renascent entrepreneurs, influence their willingness to consider new credit applications from renascent entrepreneurs. Overall, results show that individual bankers extensively determine renascent entrepreneurs’ access to financial capital. Implications for banks’ credit provision policy toward renascent entrepreneurs, and for theory, and suggestions for future research are provided in the conclusion and discussion.