In this paper, we investigate the impact of bank mergers on the lending relationship and on client-firm performance. We study bank mergers that have occurred in Japan since 2000 and find that banks reduce the loan amounts for firms with which they have a close relationship and that banks'...

Using the Japanese bank merger dataset for the 2000s, this paper investigates whether the reduction of the ownership ratio by the blockholder affects companies' operating performance and bank-firm relationships. In Japan, banks are prohibited from holding more than 5% of the business company's...