Enterprise Ownership or Enterprise Creation; The Approach of Development Banks

Abstract

Financing infrastructure projects and industrial development initiatives has always been one of the main challenges faced by developing countries, in which development banks can play a significant role. Development banks are financial institutions whose primary function is to provide long-term financing for productive and infrastructural sectors, often accompanied by technical and managerial assistance. The activities of these banks, due to their developmental nature, differ fundamentally from those of commercial banks. Commercial banks generally aim at generating profit and maximizing shareholder wealth by extending loans that are short-term, quick-yielding, and low-risk. In contrast, development banks, through mobilizing and allocating medium- and long-term resources, encouraging and facilitating private sector investment, and offering expert technical services in legal and economic domains, seek to address investment-related challenges. The present study, using a descriptive method, examines the financing mechanisms of selected development banks in various countries and their role in investment and economic development. The findings indicate that equity ownership in enterprises and providing their financial needs, with a defined exit strategy—referred to as enterprise creation—is among the common approaches adopted by these banks. This approach, for reasons such as reducing information asymmetry between lenders and borrowers, mitigating agency problems, aligning the interests of enterprises and banks, and granting enterprises long-term access to financial resources, can play a critical role in capital formation. Therefore, in the current state of the Iranian economy, where the need for investment is strongly felt and where information asymmetry increases the likelihood of diverting credit toward non-productive activities, adopting this approach in financing can pave the way for higher levels of development and economic growth in targeted sectors.