A new brief from the Congressional Budget Office discusses the role of small businesses in the economy and how they’re affected by federal policy. The CBO cites the Small Business Administration as one example of how federal policy favors small businesses over larger businesses:

Assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA), through loan guarantees that enable small firms to borrow at more attractive terms (for example, lower interest rates and fees) than they might otherwise obtain.

That’s the popular perception of the SBA’s loan guarantee programs, but I would argue that it’s inaccurate for two reasons:

1. The Government Accountability Office has calculated that SBA 7(a) loans only account for a little more than one percent of total small business loans outstanding. Veronique de Rugy and I looked at the top 15 industries that received SBA-backed loans from 2001-2010 and found that only 0.5 percent of the small businesses that comprise these industries received loans backed by the SBA. Thus, rather than helping small businesses compete against big businesses, SBA loan guarantees mainly help a tiny share of small businesses compete against other small businesses.
2. The real winner from the SBA’s loan guarantees is the banking industry—particularly large banks. In 2009, the top 10 lenders (out of 2,600 total lenders) accounted for close to one-quarter of the SBA’s flagship 7(a) loan guarantee program’s volume. Wells Fargo & Co. alone accounted for 7.3 percent of the total 7(a) loan volume. Other large banks in the top ten include J.P. Morgan Chase, U.S. Bancorp, and PNC Financial Services Group. Although lawmakers portray the SBA’s loan programs as a boost for small businesses, the programs are actually a form of corporate welfare for some of America’s largest banks.

See this Cato essay for more on why the Small Business Administration should be abolished.