State and local governments are attractive cybercrime targets because of inadequate cybersecurity and ample access to sensitive information. We show that external data breaches translate to higher financing costs for governments including negative abnormal bond returns in the secondary market...

We investigate how the introduction of market-based pricing, the practice of tying loan interest rates to credit default swaps, has affected borrowing costs. We find that CDS-based loans are associated with lower interest rates, both at origination and during the life of the loan. Our results...

We study the determinants of local governments' reliance on bank loans using granular data from the Federal Reserve. Governments that are larger, rely on stable revenue sources, or have higher spending relative to revenues are more likely to borrow from banks. About a third of governments in the...

Unexpectedly severe winter weather, which is arguably exogenous to firm and bank fundamentals, represents a significant cash flow shock for bank-borrowing firms. Firms respond to these shocks by drawing on and increasing the size of their credit lines. Banks charge borrowers for this liquidity...

We use quasi-random variation in federal loan examiner assignments -- affecting examiner leniency and supervisory ratings -- to test how bank supervision affects corporate lending. Following a supervisory rating downgrade, lead banks lower their internal risk assessments, decrease loan...

We directly measure banks' monitoring of syndicated loans. Banks typically demand borrower information on at least a monthly basis. About 20% of loans involve active monitoring (i.e., site visits or third-party appraisals). Monitoring increases with the lead bank's incentives and the value of...

We study how syndicated lending networks propagate natural disasters. Natural disasters lead to an increase in corporate credit demand in affected regions. Banks meet the increase in credit demand in part by reducing credit to distant regions, unaffected by disasters. Capital constraints play a...

Capital surcharges on global systemically important banks (GSIBs) decrease lending to firms but do not have any real effects. Banks subject to higher surcharges reduce loan commitments relative to other banks. In response to surcharges, GSIBs also lower their estimates of firm risk. Firms' total...

We estimate the effect of carbon pricing policy on bank credit to greenhouse gas emitting firms by studying cap-and-trade legislation. Our analyses exploit a discontinuity in the embedded free-permit threshold of the federal Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and the geographic restrictions...