The dramatic reduction in the growth rate of bank lending associated with the 1990-91 recession, particularly in New England, has evoked claims by many observers of a credit crunch. To overcome the difficulty in determining whether the observed slow credit growth is a demand or supply...

Quantification of operational risk has received increased attention with the inclusion of an explicit capital charge for operational risk under the new Basle proposal. The proposal provides significant flexibility for banks to use internal models to estimate their operational risk, and the...

This article examines how consolidation, along with the use of credit-scoring models for lending, may be reflected in recent patterns of small business lending by banks. The authors find that the market for small business lending has been substantially influenced both by the wave of bank...