Does the ownership structure affect firms' performance? We first theoretically show that in an inefficient market, investors motivate managers to pursue a higher return on equity, the short-term performance indicator instead of a higher return on asset, the long-term indicator and encourage...

Does the ownership structure affect firms' performance? We first theoretically show that in an inefficient market, investors motivate managers to pursue a higher return on equity, the short-term performance indicator instead of a higher return on asset, the longterm indicator and encourage...

Share repurchases have become a significant global transaction and skepticism persists about their ambiguous effect on investment. We enter this debate motivated by inconclusive relevant empirical evidence and the remarkable evolution of share repurchases in Japan. Accordingly, we explore the...

This paper investigates SME financing in Italy. The literature distinguishes between two main different lending technologies (LTs) for SMEs: transactional and relationship LTs. We find that banks lend to SMEs by using both LTs together, independently of the size and proximity of borrowers....

In Asia, government-supported housing agencies have played a constructive role in the development of domestic residential mortgage and bond markets. Several agencies have increased their overall market presence in recent years by expanding their activities and have accepted a larger share of the...

Do firms select their main bank relationship according to their risk or risk preferences? Relationship banking is attractive for high risk firms since it improves their access to finance and provides liquidity insurance. Low risk firms instead may not want to bear the additional costs. I employ...

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in Asian economies as they contribute to high shares of employment and output. However, SMEs generally have limited access to finance compared to large enterprises. Given the bank-dominated financial systems in Asia, banks are the...

We explore the determinants of the number of long-term bank relations of listed Japanese firms using a unique data set covering the period 1982-1999. Japanese listed firms have about seven long-term bank loan relations on average, but show a large variation around the average. We analyze the...