Economies of scale and the demand for money

Cross-sectional data from four Surveys of Small Business Finance demonstrate that economies of scale in money holding exist, that these economies appear to be increasing over time, and that the magnitudes are greater than those estimated for large US corporations. Firms not practising several specific cash management techniques and firms facing constraints in the credit market hold lower money balances. Minority-owned firms exhibit economies of scale similar to the overall sample but cash management practices and credit constraint variables generally do not influence their money holding behavior. Scale economies vary widely across industries but overall means are relatively stable over time.