http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/23849/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/26036/ 2012-06-01T00:00:00Z Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are informationally opaque and bank dependent. In SME lending, banks largely rely on soft information, because the scale and scope of hard information are limited. We analyze whether and how hard and soft information affects the borrower's bargaining power vis-à-vis its bank. We use the fact that, for a given credit rating, certain borrowers obtain better loan terms than others to define measures of relative bargaining power. Using SME loan data from the USA and Germany, we find that more favorable soft information (management skills and character) increases borrower bargaining power. We also show that more favorable soft than hard information improves borrower bargaining power. The results are not driven by manipulation or statistical limitations of the credit ratings. Our study suggests that soft information represents an important and direct determinant of borrower bargaining power, affecting the outcomes of the loan contracting process. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/32839/ 2012-04-16T00:00:00Z We investigate the relationship between borrower risk and loan maturity in small business lending. Using a rich dataset on new loans extended to German firms, we find a robust, significantly positive, monotonic risk-maturity relation. We show that this relation becomes stronger when asymmetric information is high and weaker when borrower bargaining power is high, and that borrower bargaining power affects the risk-maturity relation differently depending on whether asymmetric information is high or low. Our results show that both the signalling hypothesis and view that relationship lenders provide assistance to borrowers explain the positive risk-maturity relation, and that borrower bargaining power influences this relation. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/39966/ 2011-06-01T00:00:00Z Loan data from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has shown that such positive attributes as good management skills and character – so-called ‘soft’ facts – can improve a borrower’s bargaining power with their bank and thus loan terms. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20041/ 2010-12-01T00:00:00Z We investigate whether loan growth affects the riskiness of individual banks in 16 major countries. Using Bankscope data from more than 16,000 individual banks during 1997-2007, we test three hypotheses on the relation between abnormal loan growth and asset risk, bank profitability, and bank solvency. We find that loan growth leads to an increase in loan loss provisions during the subsequent three years, to a decrease in relative interest income, and to lower capital ratios. Further analyses show that loan growth also has a negative impact on the risk-adjusted interest income. These results suggest that loan growth represents an important driver of the riskiness of banks. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22275/ 2010-12-01T00:00:00Z We investigate the funding modes of German banks and the implications for lending and profitability during 1992–2002. We find that at many banks, deposits from customers decrease in relative terms while interbank liabilities increase as a source of funding. We cannot detect a negative impact of the relative decline in deposits on lending. The decreasing ability of banks to collect deposits and the substitution of deposits by interbank liabilities unfavorably affects the net interest result of banks that exhibit a deposit deficit, especially savings banks. Our findings indicate a structural lengthening of the intermediation chain, which has broader implications for the functioning and stability of the financial system. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/21081/ 2010-10-01T00:00:00Z Information on borrower quality is a fundamental issue in debt contracting, corporate and consumer finance, and financial intermediation. We investigate the link between account activity and information production on borrower risk. Based on a unique data set, we find that credit line usage, limit violations, and cash inflows exhibit abnormal patterns approximately 12 months before default events. Measures of account activity substantially improve default predictions and are especially helpful for monitoring small businesses and individuals. Furthermore, early warning indications result in higher loan spreads, and in a higher likelihood of limit reductions and complete write-offs. Our study shows that account activity provides a real-time window into the borrower's cash flows, thus explaining why banks have an advantage in providing certain types of debt financing. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22276/ 2009-06-01T00:00:00Z We analyse the relationship between credit default swap (CDS), bond and stock markets during 2000–2002. Focusing on the intertemporal co-movement, we examine monthly, weekly and daily lead-lag relationships in a vector autoregressive model and the adjustment between markets caused by cointegration. First, we find that stock returns lead CDS and bond spread changes. Second, CDS spread changes Granger cause bond spread changes for a higher number of firms than vice versa. Third, the CDS market is more sensitive to the stock market than the bond market and the strength of the co-movement increases the lower the credit quality and the larger the bond issues. Finally, the CDS market contributes more to price discovery than the bond market and this effect is stronger for US than for European firms.