Does borrowing diversity (i.e., borrowing via a larger number of debt types) affect how firms respond to an exogenous credit supply shock? To answer this question I use the recent 2007-2009 credit crisis as a negative exogenous credit supply shock to U.S. non-financial companies. Applying a...

In the recent recession and current economic recovery, policymakers have supported asset prices in the U.S. treasury and mortgage markets, expecting that improvement in the balance sheet of banks will lead to more commercial lending. In general, we document that increases in housing prices in a...

Banking supervision requires regular inspection and assessment of financial institutions. In Germany this task is carried out by the central bank (“Deutsche Bundesbank, BBK”) in cooperation with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (“Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht,...

This paper analyzes firms' difficulties in accessing credit before and during the crisis, by focusing on two of their characteristics: financial fragility and growth prospects. Our econometric analysis indicates that fragile financial conditions were associated with a much higher than average...

Banking supervision requires regular inspection and assessment of financial institutions. In Germany this task is carried out by the central bank ('Deutsche Bundesbank, BBK') in cooperation with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority ('Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht,...

Can a major financial crisis trigger changes in a bank’s risk-taking behavior? Using the 2008 Global Financial Crisis as a quasi-natural experiment and a difference-in-differences approach, I examine whether the worst crisis-hit Russian banks – the banks that have strong incentives to...

There is hardly any evidence on earnings properties of co-operatives for which profit maximisation is not a primary goal. We find that cooperatives in Germany exhibit higher levels of timely loss recognition when they have more members(owners), when they pursue charitable objectives, and when...

Using data collected from pan-African banks' (PABs), balance sheets and other sources (Orbis, Fitch), this study identifies some key patterns of cross-border investment in bank subsidiaries by key banking groups in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and discusses some of the determinants of this...

This paper investigates the relative importance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) at both the macro (financial development, economic growth, income inequality, and poverty) and micro levels (efficiency of traditional commercial banks). We observe a significant impact on most of the fronts....