Using firm-level data from surveys and financial statements, this paper presents an analysis of credit standards, capital allocation and financial conditions of non-financial enterprises in Denmark since the beginning of the financial crisis. The analysis indicates that low interest rates and...

We study bank supervision by combining a theoretical model that distinguishes supervision from regulation and a novel dataset on work hours of Federal Reserve supervisors. We highlight the trade-offs between the benefits and costs of supervision and use the model to interpret the relationship...

This article grapples with the causes of India's microfinance crisis. By contrasting Bangladesh's highly successful Grameen model with the allegedly “universalizable” version of India's SKS Microfinance (which precipitated the crisis), trust or social capital is isolated — not just...

Measuring and identifying financial constraints represents an important challenge in empirical studies. Due to data limitations perception-based indicators or approximations of access to finance by the usage of finance are often used, disregarding firm-specific differences in the demand for...

We address one of the cardinal puzzles of European corporate law: the lack of derivate shareholder suits. We explain this phenomenon on the basis of percentage limits which require shareholders to hold a minimum amount of shares in order to bring a lawsuit. We show that, under this legal regime,...

India's financial inclusion agenda has witnessed a paradigm shift over the last decade, away from an emphasis on credit to a more comprehensive approach toward financial services (e.g., opening bank accounts and offering basic financial products, such as insurance). This paper describes the...

This paper reports on the first randomized evaluation of the impact of introducing the standard microcredit group-based lending product in a new market. In 2005, half of 104 slums in Hyderabad, India were randomly selected for opening of a branch of a particular microfinance institution...

We empirically analyze the competition between a relationship lender and a transaction lender in the credit business with micro and small entrepreneurs. Drawing on a data set about the customers of the relationship lender ProCredit Ecuador combined with data about all other loans of these...

Financial inclusion is the process of building viable institutions that provide financial services to those hitherto excluded. These may include savings, insurances, remittances, and credit. Microfinance became the most dominant method for achieving financial inclusion. However, different...