We show that small firms using syndicated loans for their mid- and long-term financial needs have significantly higher leverage than firms that do not borrow in this market. This difference cannot be attributed to firm characteristics like the availability of growth opportunities, asset...

We analyze participation by investment banks and other nonbank lenders in syndicated loan financings. We find that investment banks are more likely than commercial banks to lead syndicates to riskier borrowers and they participate more often than commercial banks in the riskier tranches of...

We show that small firms using syndicated loans for their mid- and long-term financial needs have significantly higher leverage than firms that do not borrow in this market. This difference cannot be attributed to firm characteristics like the availability of growth opportunities, asset...

Event-study driven research has produced a consensus that loans are unique relative to other financial contracts. But these studies assume that small samples of loan announcements adequately represent the loan population. We find that loan announcements are rare and driven by factors such as...

We question the validity of the broad consensus in the literature that loans are unique relative to other financial contracts. Research in this area is event-study driven and implicitly assumes that relatively small samples of loan announcements adequately represent all bank loans. Our analysis...