In this paper, we propose a method to analyze the structure of the credit market. Using historical data from Japan, we explore banks’ lending patterns to the real economy. We find that generalist banks (with diversified lending) and specialist banks (with focused lending) coexist, and tend to...

In this paper, we explore the cross-section of Japanese banks’ industrial loan portfolios over the last 34 years. We show that banks with diversified lending (generalists) and banks with focused lending (specialists) coexist. Similarly, industries with diversified borrowing (generalists) and...