We investigate the relationship between borrower quality and the structure of the pool of banks. First, we develop a theoretical model where the size of the banking pool is a credible signal of firm quality. We argue that better borrowers seek to disclose their quality in a credible way through...

This paper investigates whether loan officer's level of seniority within the bank explains credit spreads. Based on a unique hand-collected database on loan applications from SMEs to a French cooperative bank between 1996 and 2009, the study suggests that senior loan officers charge higher...

Studies on the influence of trust on credit activity focus mainly on its impact on credit contracts. However, research has highlighted that these are strongly related to the kind of lending technology used by the bank. How trust shapes a bank’s business model is an issue that has not yet been...