Significant differences in loan terms between demographically distinct groups of borrowers in the United States are often interpreted as evidence of systematic ethnic, racial or gender discrimination by lenders. The appearance and interpretation of such discrimination has long been a...

Does the Church Tower Principle, i.e. geographical proximity between borrowing firm and lending bank, matter in credit risk management? If so, the bank might expose itself to a greater risk by lending to distant firms and should therefore respond by rationing them harder. In this paper we...