Based on automated credit lines to more than two million vendors trading on Alibaba’s online retail platform, we show how the take-up of FinTech credit varies with the entrepreneur’s bank distance. Proximity to the branches of the five largest stateowned banks correlates positively with the...

We study the effects of diversifying funding sources on the financing conditions for firms. We exploit a regulatory reform that took place in Italy in 2012, i.e. the introduction of ‘minibonds’, which opened a new market-based funding opportunity for unlisted firms. Using the Italian Credit...

Does a diversification of funding sources affect the financing conditions for firms? To answer this question we study a regulatory reform which allowed unlisted firms to issue minibonds. Using the Italian Credit Register, we compare new loans granted to issuer firms with new loans concurrently...