We document that finance companies and FinTech Lenders increased lending to small businesses after the 2008 financial crisis. We show that most of the increase substituted for a reduction in lending by banks. In counties where banks had a larger market share before the crisis, finance companies...

We empirically examine the impact of bank consolidation on bank acquisition of soft information about borrowers. Using a dataset of small business financing, we find that mergers of small banks have a negative impact on soft information acquisition, whereas mergers of large banks have no impact....

This paper examines whether the presence of government-guaranteed lenders helps alleviate small business financial constraints during financial crises. The results indicate that during the recent financial crisis, areas with a greater share of Small Business Administration 7(a) lenders: 1)...

We examine banks' choice between two costly instruments used to identify good loan applicants: direct screening by acquiring borrower-specific information and collateral requirements. We show that with longer relationships the preference for screening increases both in initial and in later...

We show that since 2007, there was a large and persistent shift in the composition of lenders to small firms. Large banks impacted by the collapse of real estate prices systematically contracted their credit to all small firms throughout the U.S.. However, healthy banks expanded their operations...

We show that FinTech lending affects credit markets and real economic activity using a unique data set of a Peer-to-Business platform for which we have the universe of loan applications. We find that FinTech serves high quality and creditworthy small businesses who already have access to bank...

Adequate credit availability for small businesses is an important public policy issue because small businesses are essential for employment and economic growth for the economy. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 includes a provision that could potentially support financial institutions in the...

I examine the effect that technology has on soft-information lending, and addresses issues within the banking literature on quantifying bank technology. I find that banks engage in less soft-information lending when back-office bank technology is more productive, and that banks engage in less...

Can distance-related information asymmetries in credit markets be overcome with contract design and credit scoring models? To answer this question, we explore differences in foreign and domestic banks' credit contract terms and pricing models. Using a sample of firms that borrow from both...

SFAS 166 and 167 require banks to consolidate certain off‒balance sheet securitization entities. I investigate how this consolidation spills over to banks' supply of small business loans, which are rarely securitized in the United States. This spillover operates through two channels. (1) In...