IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v60y2020i4p4291-4330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can banks monitor small business borrowers effectively using hard information?

Author

Listed:
  • Daisuke Tsuruta

Abstract

We investigate whether banks rely on hard information to monitor small business borrowers and to what extent hard information is credible. Using Japanese firm‐level data, we show that banks reduce the amount of lending to defaulting firms if the firms are financially distressed and suffer operating losses. In contrast, banks do not significantly reduce the amount of lending to defaulting firms with low levels of leverage and high profitability. This implies that banks mitigate type II errors if they receive default signals using the hard information of informationally opaque small businesses.

Suggested Citation

  • Daisuke Tsuruta, 2020. "Can banks monitor small business borrowers effectively using hard information?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 4291-4330, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:60:y:2020:i:4:p:4291-4330
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12544
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12544
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.12544?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joe Peek & Eric S. Rosengren, 2005. "Unnatural Selection: Perverse Incentives and the Misallocation of Credit in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1144-1166, September.
    2. Diamond, Douglas W, 1991. "Monitoring and Reputation: The Choice between Bank Loans and Directly Placed Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 689-721, August.
    3. Frederic Boissay & Reint Gropp, 2013. "Payment Defaults and Interfirm Liquidity Provision," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(6), pages 1853-1894.
    4. Berger, Allen N. & Klapper, Leora F. & Udell, Gregory F., 2001. "The ability of banks to lend to informationally opaque small businesses," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2127-2167, December.
    5. Agarwal, Sumit & Ben-David, Itzhak, 2018. "Loan prospecting and the loss of soft information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 608-628.
    6. Bartoli, Francesca & Ferri, Giovanni & Murro, Pierluigi & Rotondi, Zeno, 2013. "SME financing and the choice of lending technology in Italy: Complementarity or substitutability?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5476-5485.
    7. Benjamin P. Foster & Jozef Zurada, 2013. "Loan defaults and hazard models for bankruptcy prediction," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 28(6), pages 516-541, June.
    8. Berger, Allen N. & Black, Lamont K., 2011. "Bank size, lending technologies, and small business finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 724-735, March.
    9. Beck, Thorsten & Degryse, Hans & De Haas, Ralph & van Horen, Neeltje, 2018. "When arm's length is too far: Relationship banking over the credit cycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 174-196.
    10. Opler, Tim C & Titman, Sheridan, 1994. "Financial Distress and Corporate Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(3), pages 1015-1040, July.
    11. Ricardo J. Caballero & Takeo Hoshi & Anil K. Kashyap, 2008. "Zombie Lending and Depressed Restructuring in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1943-1977, December.
    12. Berger, Allen N. & Miller, Nathan H. & Petersen, Mitchell A. & Rajan, Raghuram G. & Stein, Jeremy C., 2005. "Does function follow organizational form? Evidence from the lending practices of large and small banks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 237-269, May.
    13. Cole, Rebel A. & Goldberg, Lawrence G. & White, Lawrence J., 2004. "Cookie Cutter vs. Character: The Micro Structure of Small Business Lending by Large and Small Banks," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(2), pages 227-251, June.
    14. Wenying Jiangli & Haluk Unal & Chiwon Yom, 2008. "Relationship Lending, Accounting Disclosure, and Credit Availability during the Asian Financial Crisis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(1), pages 25-55, February.
    15. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 589-609, September.
    16. D'Aurizio, Leandro & Oliviero, Tommaso & Romano, Livio, 2015. "Family firms, soft information and bank lending in a financial crisis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 279-292.
    17. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    18. Hirofumi Uchida, 2011. "What Do Banks Evaluate When They Screen Borrowers? Soft Information, Hard Information and Collateral," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 40(1), pages 29-48, October.
    19. Sakai, Koji & Uesugi, Iichiro & Watanabe, Tsutomu, 2010. "Firm age and the evolution of borrowing costs: Evidence from Japanese small firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1970-1981, August.
    20. Leland, Hayne E & Pyle, David H, 1977. "Informational Asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 371-387, May.
    21. Wenfei Li & Cen Wu & Liping Xu & Qingquan Tang, 2017. "Bank connections and the speed of leverage adjustment: evidence from China's listed firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(5), pages 1349-1381, December.
    22. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1997. "Trade Credit: Theories and Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 661-691.
    23. Giorgio Gobbi & Enrico Sette, 2014. "Do Firms Benefit from Concentrating their Borrowing? Evidence from the Great Recession," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(2), pages 527-560.
    24. Wenying Jiangli & Haluk Unal & Chiwon Yom, 2008. "Relationship Lending, Accounting Disclosure, and Credit Availability during the Asian Financial Crisis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(1), pages 25-55, February.
    25. Michael Minnis & Andrew Sutherland, 2017. "Financial Statements as Monitoring Mechanisms: Evidence from Small Commercial Loans," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 197-233, March.
    26. Allen N. Berger & Gregory F. Udell, 2002. "Small Business Credit Availability and Relationship Lending: The Importance of Bank Organisational Structure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(477), pages 32-53, February.
    27. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy: A Discriminant Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 193-194, March.
    28. Zmijewski, Me, 1984. "Methodological Issues Related To The Estimation Of Financial Distress Prediction Models," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22, pages 59-82.
    29. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    30. Campbell, Tim S & Kracaw, William A, 1980. "Information Production, Market Signalling, and the Theory of Financial Intermediation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(4), pages 863-882, September.
    31. John Asker & Joan Farre-Mensa & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2015. "Corporate Investment and Stock Market Listing: A Puzzle?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 342-390.
    32. Cotugno, Matteo & Monferrà, Stefano & Sampagnaro, Gabriele, 2013. "Relationship lending, hierarchical distance and credit tightening: Evidence from the financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1372-1385.
    33. Andrea F. Presbitero & Gregory F. Udell & Alberto Zazzaro, 2014. "The Home Bias and the Credit Crunch: A Regional Perspective," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(s1), pages 53-85, February.
    34. Takeo Hoshi & Anil Kashyap & David Scharfstein, 1991. "Corporate Structure, Liquidity, and Investment: Evidence from Japanese Industrial Groups," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(1), pages 33-60.
    35. Berger, Allen N. & Udell, Gregory F., 2006. "A more complete conceptual framework for SME finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2945-2966, November.
    36. Berger, Allen N & Udell, Gregory F, 1995. "Relationship Lending and Lines of Credit in Small Firm Finance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(3), pages 351-381, July.
    37. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    38. Claudio Raddatz, 2010. "Credit Chains and Sectoral Comovement: Does the Use of Trade Credit Amplify Sectoral Shocks?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 985-1003, November.
    39. Hoshi, Takeo & Kashyap, Anil & Scharfstein, David, 1990. "The role of banks in reducing the costs of financial distress in Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-88, September.
    40. Milani, Carlo, 2014. "Borrower–lender distance and loan default rates: Macro evidence from the Italian local markets," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-21.
    41. Durguner, Sena, 2017. "Do borrower-lender relationships still matter for small business loans?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 98-118.
    42. Dewally, Michaël & Shao, Yingying, 2014. "Liquidity crisis, relationship lending and corporate finance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 223-239.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Natalya Zelenyuk & Robert Faff & Shams Pathan, 2021. "The impact of voluntary capital adequacy disclosure on bank lending and liquidity creation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 3915-3935, September.
    2. Wei Yang & Haiyang Li & Gaowen Kong & Dongmin Kong, 2021. "Access to finance and SMEs’ trade credit: evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2997-3029, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Song Zhang & Liang Han & Konstantinos Kallias & Antonios Kallias, 2021. "The value of in-person banking: evidence from U.S. small businesses," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1393-1435, November.
    2. Santikian, Lori, 2014. "The ties that bind: Bank relationships and small business lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-213.
    3. Stefano Filomeni & Michele Modina & Elena Tabacco, 2023. "Trade credit and firm investments: empirical evidence from Italian cooperative banks," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1099-1141, April.
    4. Ferri, Giovanni & Murro, Pierluigi, 2015. "Do firm–bank ‘odd couples’ exacerbate credit rationing?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 231-251.
    5. Fabio Panetta & Fabiano Schivardi & Matthew Shum, 2009. "Do Mergers Improve Information? Evidence from the Loan Market," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 673-709, June.
    6. José María Liberti & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2018. "Information: Hard and Soft," NBER Working Papers 25075, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Djedidi-Kooli, Salima, 2009. "L’accès au financement des PME en France : quel rôle joué par la structure du système bancaire ?," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/8354 edited by Etner, François.
    8. Elyasiani, Elyas & Goldberg, Lawrence G., 2004. "Relationship lending: a survey of the literature," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 315-330.
    9. Norden, L., 2015. "The Role of Banks in SME Finance," ERIM Inaugural Address Series Research in Management EIA-2015-062-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam..
    10. Simon Cornée, 2014. "Soft Information and Default Prediction in Cooperative and Social Banks," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 3(1), pages 89-103, June.
    11. Udell, Gregory F., 2008. "What's in a relationship The case of commercial lending," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 93-103.
    12. Refait-Alexandre, Catherine & Serve, Stéphanie, 2020. "Multiple banking relationships: Do SMEs mistrust their banks?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    13. Kano, Masaji & Uchida, Hirofumi & Udell, Gregory F. & Watanabe, Wako, 2011. "Information verifiability, bank organization, bank competition and bank-borrower relationships," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 935-954, April.
    14. Durguner, Sena, 2017. "Do borrower-lender relationships still matter for small business loans?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 98-118.
    15. Beck, Thorsten & Degryse, Hans & De Haas, Ralph & van Horen, Neeltje, 2018. "When arm's length is too far: Relationship banking over the credit cycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 174-196.
    16. Tchakoute-Tchuigoua, Hubert, 2012. "Active risk management and loan contract terms: Evidence from rated microfinance institutions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 427-437.
    17. Eriko Naiki & Yuta Ogane, 2020. "Bank soundness and bank lending to new firms during the global financial crisis," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(3), pages 513-541, July.
    18. Beck, Thorsten & Degryse, Hans & De Haas, Ralph & van Horen, Neeltje, 2018. "When arm's length is too far: Relationship banking over the credit cycle," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 174-196.
    19. Andrikopoulos, Panagiotis & Khorasgani, Amir, 2018. "Predicting unlisted SMEs' default: Incorporating market information on accounting-based models for improved accuracy," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 559-573.
    20. Sedunov, John, 2020. "Small banks and consumer satisfaction," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:60:y:2020:i:4:p:4291-4330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.