We study the effect of bank governance on risk-taking in commercial lending. Banks with more effective boards are less likely to lend to riskier borrowers. This effect is restricted to periods of distress in the banking industry. Banks with more effective boards are less likely to lend to...

Banking competition may enhance or hinder the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises. Using a survey on the financing of such enterprises in China, combined with detailed bank branch information, we investigate how concentration in local banking market affects the availability of...

We explore Lithuanian credit register data and two bank closures to provide a novel estimate of firms' bank-switching costs and a novel identification of the hold-up problem. We show that when a distressed bank's closure forced firms to switch, these firms started borrowing at lower interest...

Did the occurrence of systemic banking crises in the 1990s and 2000s significantly alter the behavior of banks in the Mercosur? The objective of this paper is to answer this question by analyzing changes in bank behavior after crises in the Mercosur region. To our knowledge, this is the first...

In deciding whether to roll over a loan, a relationship bank that has imperfect private information about its borrowers faces a trade-off. It wants to avoid rolling over a loan to a bad firm so as to safeguard its reputation as an effective monitor. However, refusing to roll over a loan to a...

This empirical examination of the effect of rollover risk on default risk uses a database of U.S. industrial firms during 1986-2011. This article represents the most comprehensive empirical study to date to support the existence of a rollover risk effect on default risk. This paper investigates...

We show that U.S. banks do not engage in zombie lending to firms of deteriorating profitability, irrespective of capital levels and exposure to such firms. In contrast, unregulated financial intermediaries do, originating more and cheaper loans to these firms. We establish these results using...

We study the effect of rollover risk on the risk of default using a comprehensive database of U.S. industrial firms during 1986–2013 This article is the most thoroughgoing empirical research to date to support the existence of a rollover risk effect on the risk of default. A one standard...

We find credit line drawdowns are an important source of long-term finance for capital expenditures and acquisitions for all but the highest rated firms. Unrated and to a lesser extent intermediate-rated firms draw down credit lines most frequently when capital market conditions are unfavorable....