Middle-aged people have a higher demand for bank loans compared to other age groups and banks that are active in regions with more middle-aged residents are exposed to higher loan demand. This generates a geographically varying demand for loans. Using this variation, we show that banks increase...

Productive firms can access credit markets directly by issuing corporate bonds or by borrowing through financial intermediaries. In this paper, we study the cyclical properties of corporate credit provision through these two types of debt instruments in major advanced economies. We argue that...