We reexamine the role of relationships in the loan granting process overall. A practical implication emerging from the classical studies on the role of relationships in credit rationing is that good relationships between a borrower and his lender should, in fact, work to lower the interest rate...

Profitability is a central concern when governments provide guarantees to increase the flow of funds to disadvantaged groups. We examine the profitability of small business investment companies (SBICs) that are chartered and regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to finance...

Using a unique transactions-level dataset, this paper examines the investment choices of small business investment companies (SBICs), which are private venture capital firms licensed and regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SBICs make debt and equity investments in small...

This paper sheds some light on the empirical importance of supplier relationships, including ethnic ties, for the use of trade credit by minority-owned small businesses. Results based on the 1993 National Survey of Small Business Finance (NSSBF) indicate that ethnic differences in the use of...

Banking industry consolidation has raised concern about the supply of small business credit since large banks generally invest lower proportions of their assets in small business loans. However, we find that the likelihood that a small business borrows from a bank of a given size is roughly...

This paper investigates the impact of the relationship between a small firm and its lender on the interest rate paid by the firm. I examine detailed data on loans made by small business investment companies (SBICs) to small firms between 1986 and 1991, and my estimates imply that, other things...

We study the dynamics of market entry following mergers and acquisitions (M&As), and the behavior of recent entrants in supplying output that might be withdrawn by the consolidating firms. The data, drawn from the banking industry, suggest that M&As are associated with subsequent increases in...