We propose a study of the impact of French participatory lending platforms on the performance of companies who borrow via this new mode of financial intermediation. We will first build a discrete choice model which simulates SME decisions to borrow via a platform according to various company characteristics, such as industry, age, size, geographical location, collateral, risk, financial constraints, performance, etc. In a second step, we will match SMEs which borrow from platforms with SMEs which have similar observable characteristics but borrow from banks. After ensuring the validity of the pairing, we will be able to isolate the causal impact of borrowing through participatory finance platforms on company performance.
