Abstract: The subject of this research is the methods of assessing creditworthiness of borrowers of small and medium business, which allow assessing the level of risk for the bank. The author examines the dynamics of lending to small and medium businesses over the last decade in the Russian Federation, and analyzes the level of bad debt in the small and medium business loans credit portfolio. Critical analysis is conducted on the modern Russian and foreign methods of assessing creditworthiness of borrowers belonging to small and medium business, as well as highlights their merits and flaws. The author concludes on the fact of absence of a universal efficient method of assessing creditworthiness of small and medium business in Russian practice, overlapping of most of the indicators in the examined approaches, accent on qualitative indexes of the assessment of creditworthiness, and presence of subjective factor in the methodologies. The scientific novelty consists in substantiation of the list of absolute and relative indicators with consideration of existing research on this topic, in order to form express assessment of the creditworthiness of small and medium business, the integral indicator of which can be gained on the bases of taxonomic analysis. Improvements to the methodology of assessing creditworthiness of small and medium business can jump start development of lending to entities of small and medium entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Credit Risk, Assessment Methodology, Banking Institution, Small and Medium Business, Borrower, Creditworthiness, Credit, Qualitative Indicators, Quantitative Indicators, Loan Portfolio

Abstract: One of the main problems of modern banking is the issue of limited liability of credit institutions. The author of the present article discusses the relationship between liability of creditors and their willingness to take risks. Starting from the hypothesis of the existence of channels of credit risk transmission, the author sets a task to experimentally test the liability channel of creditors, according to which, tightening of creditors' responsibility leads to a reduced willingness to accapted risk due to the behavioural effect of endowment. The methodological basis of this research includes experimental research methods. To identify endowment effect and to assess its impact on willingness to take risk in terms of credit relations the author has developed a number of experimental settings. The first setting involves the comparison of the willingness to accept risk when making choice under risk and certainty. The second setting meant having the opportunity to make money, by solving a series of simple arithmetic equations before the experiment. Based on the study of changes in the level of responsibility of creditors, it can be assumed that the channel is an important element in transmission of credit risk in the movement and development of the credit sector. However efficiency of the mechanism of increasing monetary liability has limitations related to the increasing rate of income above the market average, as well as decision making in the frame of losses.

Keywords: risk, uncertainty, behavioral economics, bank, credit risk transmission, limited liablity, endowment effect, credit cycle, credit risk, lending