Economics
U.S. Loans Didn’t Flow to Businesses Most at Risk, Study Shows
- Report says only 15% of companies most hurt by virus got funds
- Top four banks disbursed less than 3% of loans under program
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Loans to small businesses through a federal program haven’t flowed to areas hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new analysis by economists.
About 15% of companies in the regions with the biggest declines in hours worked and most business shutdowns received funds from the first tranche of the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the paper from researchers at the University of Chicago’s Booth School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School and the National Bureau of Economic Research.