2013-03-14-世界经济论坛-Breaking_the_Logjam_of_Capital_Allocation_7页_635kb

Breaking the Logjam of Capital Allocation: Summary

1. Core Problem: Stagnant Capital Flow

• The global economy is awash in financial capital, yet it fails to reach its optimal use, particularly for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs, and underbanked individuals.
• A primary issue is a "logjam" characterized by:
  • Size Mismatch: Large capital suppliers struggle to connect with small capital demanders.
  • Diseconomies of Scale in Transaction Costs: High minimum efficient scales prevent large providers from engaging with small borrowers/entrepreneurs.
  • Mismatch in Investment Time Horizons: Also contributing to the problem.

2. The Vicious Cycle of Stagnancy

Four interconnected factors create this cycle:

• 1. Complex Regulatory Compliance Burdens: High fixed regulatory costs raise the minimum efficient scale for investment, making small investments unfeasible for large providers.
• 2. Lack of Trust in Financial Institutions and Regulators: Post-crisis distrust hinders innovation by financial institutions needed to overcome barriers.
• 3. Lack of Transparency: Opaque institutions and ambiguous rules fuel distrust and make regulatory complexity worse.
• 4. Media Failure: The media's focus on finding villains rather than performing deep analysis exacerbates public mistrust, discourages transparency, and influences bad regulation.

3. Proposed Solutions: Driving Innovation

• Competitive pressures will eventually drive needed innovations, but this may be too slow.
• Proactive measures should focus on:
  • Organizational Innovation: Creating intermediary institutions between large capital providers and small borrowers/entrepreneurs.
  • Contractual Innovation: Adjusting loan contracts (e.g., adding warrants) to align lender incentives more closely with the success of risky SME investments, encouraging better due diligence.
• Addressing the initial factors (trust, transparency, complexity) through innovative structures and incentives is crucial to breaking the cycle and improving capital allocation.