Information is a fundamental component of all financial transactions and markets, but it can arrive in multiple forms. We define what is meant by hard and soft information and describe the relative advantages of each. Hard information is quantitative, easy to store and transmit in impersonal...

We demonstrate the central importance of creditors' ability to use “movable” assets as collateral (as distinct from “immovable” real estate) when borrowing from banks. Using a unique cross-country micro-level loan dataset containing loan-to-value ratios for different assets, we find that...