Redovisningsinformation för bedömning av små och medelstora företags kreditvärdighet

Sammanfattning: This thesis deals with financial accounting information useful for creditors assessing SME creditworthiness. The literature describes financial accounting as a multi-paradigm science having several theoretical schools. What mainly distinguishes the various financial accounting theorists are their differing perspectives on the objectives (function) and attributes of accounting information. Users are characterized by different decision-making situations that can be viewed from various perspectives. Even within particular user groups, such as creditors, what data is useful may vary from individual to individual. The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of the function, content and quality of the financial accounting information used by creditors in assessing the creditworthiness of SMEs.The empirical base of the thesis comprises five institutional creditors and thirteen non-institutional creditors. The major empirical findings are what financial accounting information creditors demand when assessing SME creditworthiness, how creditors use financial accounting information when assessing SME creditworthiness and what creditor´s preferences are when it comes to public information (i. e., financial reporting) used in assessing SME creditworthiness. The main theoretical implications concerns credit risk assessment and the decision-usefulness paradigm.