Distance, rating systems and enterprise finance : ethnographic insights from a comparison of regional and large banks in Germany

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of maps -- List of boxes -- List of tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- List of abbreviations -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 The geography of finance and SME lending -- 1.2 Credit decisions and rating systems -- 1.3 Research contributions and proceedings -- 2 Financial systems, the geography of firm financing and rating systems -- 2.1 Financial systems and economic development -- 2.2 The geography of firm financing -- 2.3 Placing the rating systems as non-human actors in credit decisions -- 2.4 Spot the differences: approaching distance in bank-based SME lending -- 3 The German banking system: methods and case descriptions -- 3.1 Methodology -- 3.2 The German banking system -- 3.3 Selection and description of bank cases -- 4 SME credit decision making of savings versus big banks -- 4.1 The informational basis of credit decisions -- 4.2 The organisation of credit decisions at savings and big banks -- 4.3 The effects of the varying organisation of credit decisions at savings and big banks -- 5 Conclusion -- 5.1 Key findings -- 5.2 Practitioner recommendations -- 5.3 Future research directions -- Appendix -- References -- Index