Two alternatives research hypotheses concerning how small business lending affects bank profitability are tested. The specialization hypothesis argues for higher profitability than other banks due to increased focus on small business lending, whereas the diversification hypothesis asserts that...

Disagreement exists about the potential effects of changes in competition on relationship lending. Boot and Thakor (2000) predict that an increase in capital market competition should lead to a reduction in relationship lending; however, Dinç (2000) predicts that greater capital market...

Using Korean fixed asset divestiture data, I extend the investigation of the financing hypothesis of divestitures proposed by Lang et al. (Lang, L., Poulsen, A., Stulz, R., 1995. Asset sales, firm performance, and the agency costs of managerial discretion, Journal of Financial Economics 37,...

Dramatic changes are occurring in our financial system and the pace of change is increasing. These changes provide opportunities for community bankers, but they also create new challenges. To explore how community banks will respond to these challenges, we asked Tenth District community bankers...