【正文】
ada, Japan, the ., Korea, and Germany. Trade associations take on such roles in France, Spain,and other nations. Loans that support the expansion of small enterprises may convey significant benefits to the borrowing firms and, through job creation and retention, to the rest of society. However, to the extent that some borrowers are unable to meet the repayment obligations of their debt, guarantors also face material real costs of honoring their guarantee to the lenders. Loan guarantee programs are designed in a variety of ways. Often these programs do not appear to reflect guidance from economic theory or paper draws on empirical evidence to pare costs with benefits. In addition, it uses the results and economic theory to provide some guidance for the design of loan guarantee programs. Finally, the study shows that loan guarantee programs can be an effective means of supporting startup, growth, and survival of new and risky enterprises. The work finds that substantial total and incremental j