Using the most recent machine learning-based image-processing techniques, we investigate whether banks factor borrowing firm's chief executive officer (CEO) facial trustworthiness into bank loan contracting. We find that banks tend to grant more favorable loan terms to firms with...

We examine the value of individual-level trust in private communication between sell-side analysts and a firm’s management. Based on Big Data and machine-learning techniques, we employ facial trustworthiness as a proxy for analysts’ trustworthiness in the eyes of management. We find that...