Mutual as Credit Guarantee and Determinants of Innovation

This work shows the relevance of guarantees provided by the Mutual Credit Guarantee System as an instrument used in the financing of SMEs, especially in restructuring long-term debt and bank loans. The study provides empirical evidence and puts forward an explanatory model of the influence of the mutual credit guarantees on the financing of SMEs. The results obtained show the relation between long-term debt financing and the guarantees provided by the MCGS to SMEs, especially in the medium and long term, for firms that usually cannot obtain this type of financing. Also, this book analyses R&D, Barriers and Cooperation as determinants of ongoing or abandoned innovation activities. The conjugation of this three determinants that encompass the most important factors of all procedures of abandon or ongoing innovation activities, allows knowing which is the most influent as determinants to Portuguese SMEs. The database was obtained through the Community Innovation Survey 2010. With the results obtained, were highlighted the three most important determinants that lead SMEs to abandon their innovation projects and the main factors about their ongoing activities.