Banking competition is expected to provide welfare gains by reducing monopoly rents and cost inefficiencies, favoring a reduction of loan rates and then investment. These expected gains are a major issue for transition countries, in which bank credit represents the largest source of external...

A large number of bank failures occurred in transition countries during the 1990s and at the beginning of the 2000s. These failures were related to increases in non-performing loans and deteriorated cost efficiency of banks. This paper addresses the question of the causality between...

This paper aims at testing empirically the three major theoretical reasons why banks resort to collateral: reduction of loan loss in the event of default, adverse selection, and moral hazard. This investigation is performed by testing whether the reasons vary according to the type of collateral....

We examine why banks resort to collateral, and whether their reasons vary according to the type of collateral. We use a unique dataset of bank loans granted to French distressed firms, which contains full information on the type and value of collaterals and the cause of firm default. Our work...

This research investigates how bankruptcy law influences the design of debt contracts and the investments choices. We model a lending relationship between a small firm and a monopolistic bank who decides the level of the interest rate. The firm may perform asset substitution, which is sanctioned...

Literature on ex-ante efficiency of bankruptcy procedures investigates how these procedures influence the behavior of managers and creditors. We extend this literature by explaining how bankruptcy law can influence the design of debt contracts through the recovery process. We develop a model of...

We use data from the World Bank Global Findex database for 2011 to analyze financial inclusion in China, including comparisons with the other BRICS countries. We find a high level of financial inclusion in China manifested by greater use of formal account and formal saving than in the other...

This study evaluates whether the development of Islamic banking influences macroeconomic efficiency. Thus, we contribute to the analysis of the relation between Islamic finance and economic growth by applying the stochastic frontier approach to estimate technical efficiency at the country level...

This paper considers whether information asymmetries affect the willingness of foreign banks to participate in syndicated loans to corporate borrowers in China. We analyze how ownership concentration, which influences information asymmetries in the relationship between the borrower and the...

We use data from the World Bank Global Findex database for 2011 to analyze financial inclusion in China, including comparisons with the other BRICS countries. We find a high level of financial inclusion in China manifested by greater use of formal account and formal saving than in the other...