IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jfinan/v75y2020i2p905-947.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Borrowing from Banks Cost More than Borrowing from the Market?

Author

Listed:
  • MICHAEL SCHWERT

Abstract

This paper investigates the pricing of bank loans relative to capital market debt. The analysis uses a novel sample of loans matched with bond spreads from the same firm on the same date. After accounting for seniority, lenders earn a large premium relative to the bond‐implied credit spread. In a sample of secured term loans to noninvestment‐grade firms, the average premium is 140 to 170 bps or about half of the all‐in‐drawn spread. This is the first direct evidence of firms' willingness to pay for bank credit and raises questions about the nature of competition in the loan market.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Schwert, 2020. "Does Borrowing from Banks Cost More than Borrowing from the Market?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(2), pages 905-947, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:75:y:2020:i:2:p:905-947
    DOI: 10.1111/jofi.12849
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12849
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jofi.12849?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. 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.
    2. Gustafson, Matthew T., 2018. "Inter-market competition and bank loan spreads: Evidence from the securities offering reform," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 107-117.
    3. James, Christopher, 1987. "Some evidence on the uniqueness of bank loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 217-235, December.
    4. Douglas, Rohan & Berndt, Antje & Duffie, Darrell & Ferguson, Mark, 2017. "Corporate Credit Risk Premia," Research Papers repec:ecl:stabus:3617, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    5. Diamond, Douglas W., 1993. "Seniority and maturity of debt contracts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 341-368, June.
    6. Hsuan‐Chi Chen & Jay R. Ritter, 2000. "The Seven Percent Solution," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(3), pages 1105-1131, June.
    7. Steven Drucker & Manju Puri, 2005. "On the Benefits of Concurrent Lending and Underwriting," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2763-2799, December.
    8. Leland, Hayne E, 1994. "Corporate Debt Value, Bond Covenants, and Optimal Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1213-1252, September.
    9. Tobias Berg & Anthony Saunders & Sascha Steffen, 2016. "The Total Cost of Corporate Borrowing in the Loan Market: Don't Ignore the Fees," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(3), pages 1357-1392, June.
    10. Casey Dougal & Joseph Engelberg & Christopher A. Parsons & Edward D. Van Wesep, 2015. "Anchoring on Credit Spreads," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1039-1080, June.
    11. Black, Fischer & Cox, John C, 1976. "Valuing Corporate Securities: Some Effects of Bond Indenture Provisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 31(2), pages 351-367, May.
    12. Merton, Robert C, 1974. "On the Pricing of Corporate Debt: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 29(2), pages 449-470, May.
    13. Becker, Bo & Ivashina, Victoria, 2014. "Cyclicality of credit supply: Firm level evidence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 76-93.
    14. Joshua D. Rauh & Amir Sufi, 2010. "Capital Structure and Debt Structure," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(12), pages 4242-4280, December.
    15. Joshua D. Coval & Jakub W. Jurek & Erik Stafford, 2009. "Economic Catastrophe Bonds," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(3), pages 628-666, June.
    16. Hubbard, R Glenn & Kuttner, Kenneth N & Palia, Darius N, 2002. "Are There Bank Effects in Borrowers' Costs of Funds? Evidence from a Matched Sample of Borrowers and Banks," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(4), pages 559-581, October.
    17. Max Bruche & Frederic Malherbe & Ralf R Meisenzahl, 2020. "Pipeline Risk in Leveraged Loan Syndication," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(12), pages 5660-5705.
    18. Joel F. Houston & Chen Lin & Junbo Wang, 2014. "Does Bank Monitoring Matter to Bondholders?," Working Papers 162014, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    19. Max Bruche & Frederic Malherbe & Ralf R Meisenzahl, 0. "Pipeline Risk in Leveraged Loan Syndication," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(12), pages 5660-5705.
    20. Ivashina, Victoria, 2009. "Asymmetric information effects on loan spreads," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 300-319, May.
    21. Carola Schenone, 2010. "Lending Relationships and Information Rents: Do Banks Exploit Their Information Advantages?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 1149-1199, March.
    22. Duffie, Darrell & Singleton, Kenneth J, 1999. "Modeling Term Structures of Defaultable Bonds," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 687-720.
    23. Michael Faulkender & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2006. "Does the Source of Capital Affect Capital Structure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 45-79.
    24. Feldhütter, Peter & Hotchkiss, Edith & Karakaş, Oğuzhan, 2016. "The value of creditor control in corporate bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 1-27.
    25. Murfin, Justin & Petersen, Mitchell, 2016. "Loans on sale: Credit market seasonality, borrower need, and lender rents," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 300-326.
    26. Bao, Jack & Hou, Kewei, 2017. "De Facto Seniority, Credit Risk, and Corporate Bond Prices," Working Paper Series 2017-17, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    27. Roberts, Michael R. & Sufi, Amir, 2009. "Renegotiation of financial contracts: Evidence from private credit agreements," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 159-184, August.
    28. Amir Sufi, 2009. "Bank Lines of Credit in Corporate Finance: An Empirical Analysis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1057-1088, March.
    29. Lim, Jongha & Minton, Bernadette A. & Weisbach, Michael S., 2014. "Syndicated loan spreads and the composition of the syndicate," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 45-69.
    30. Carey, Mark & Gordy, Michael B., 2021. "The bank as Grim Reaper: Debt composition and bankruptcy thresholds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(3), pages 1092-1108.
    31. Amir Sufi, 2009. "Bank Lines of Credit in Corporate Finance: An Empirical Analysis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1057-1088.
    32. Datta, Sudip & Iskandar-Datta, Mai & Patel, Ajay, 1999. "Bank monitoring and the pricing of corporate public debt," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 435-449, March.
    33. Cheol Park, 2000. "Monitoring and Structure of Debt Contracts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(5), pages 2157-2195, October.
    34. Schaefer, Stephen M. & Strebulaev, Ilya A., 2008. "Structural models of credit risk are useful: Evidence from hedge ratios on corporate bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 1-19, October.
    35. Michael Schwert, 2018. "Bank Capital and Lending Relationships," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(2), pages 787-830, April.
    36. Fama, Eugene F., 1985. "What's different about banks?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 29-39, January.
    37. Jing-Zhi Huang & Ming Huang, 2012. "How Much of the Corporate-Treasury Yield Spread Is Due to Credit Risk?," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 2(2), pages 153-202.
    38. Hale, Galina & Santos, João A.C., 2009. "Do banks price their informational monopoly?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 185-206, August.
    39. Jack Bao & Kewei Hou, 2017. "De Facto Seniority, Credit Risk, and Corporate Bond Prices," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(11), pages 4038-4080.
    40. Heitor Almeida & Thomas Philippon, 2007. "The Risk‐Adjusted Cost of Financial Distress," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(6), pages 2557-2586, December.
    41. Young Ho Eom, 2004. "Structural Models of Corporate Bond Pricing: An Empirical Analysis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 499-544.
    42. João A. C. Santos & Andrew Winton, 2008. "Bank Loans, Bonds, and Information Monopolies across the Business Cycle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1315-1359, June.
    43. Sreedhar T. Bharath & Tyler Shumway, 2008. "Forecasting Default with the Merton Distance to Default Model," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(3), pages 1339-1369, May.
    44. Ivashina, Victoria & Sun, Zheng, 2011. "Institutional demand pressure and the cost of corporate loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(3), pages 500-522, March.
    45. Antje Berndt & Rohan Douglas & Darrell Duffie & Mark Ferguson, 2018. "Corporate Credit Risk Premia [Fallen angels and price pressure]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(2), pages 419-454.
    46. Peter Feldhütter & Stephen M Schaefer, 2018. "The Myth of the Credit Spread Puzzle," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(8), pages 2897-2942.
    47. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. "Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-1400, September.
    48. Glover, Brent, 2016. "The expected cost of default," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(2), pages 284-299.
    49. Jack Bao & Jun Pan & Jiang Wang, 2011. "The Illiquidity of Corporate Bonds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(3), pages 911-946, June.
    50. Botsch, Matthew & Vanasco, Victoria, 2019. "Learning by lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-14.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Marc Arnold & Ramona Westermann, 2023. "Debt Renegotiations Outside Distress," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 27(4), pages 1183-1228.
    2. Isin, Adnan Anil, 2018. "Tax avoidance and cost of debt: The case for loan-specific risk mitigation and public debt financing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 344-378.
    3. Stephanie Heck, 2022. "Corporate bond yields and returns: a survey," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 36(2), pages 179-201, June.
    4. Bai, Jennie & Goldstein, Robert S. & Yang, Fan, 2020. "Is the credit spread puzzle a myth?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(2), pages 297-319.
    5. Wenlian Gao & Feifei Zhu & Kai Chen, 2023. "The role of bank lenders in firm leverage adjustments," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 46(1), pages 63-97, February.
    6. Bao, Jack & Hou, Kewei & Zhang, Shaojun, 2023. "Systematic default and return predictability in the stock and bond markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(3), pages 349-377.
    7. Botsch, Matthew & Vanasco, Victoria, 2019. "Learning by lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Demiroglu, Cem & James, Christopher & Velioglu, Guner, 2022. "Why are commercial loan rates so sticky? The effect of private information on loan spreads," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 959-972.
    9. Erwan Morellec & Philip Valta & Alexei Zhdanov, 2015. "Financing Investment: The Choice Between Bonds and Bank Loans," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(11), pages 2580-2602, November.
    10. Chen, Jiayuan & Gong, Di & Muckley, Cal, 2020. "Stock market illiquidity, bargaining power and the cost of borrowing," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 181-206.
    11. Giesecke, Kay & Longstaff, Francis A. & Schaefer, Stephen & Strebulaev, Ilya, 2011. "Corporate bond default risk: A 150-year perspective," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 233-250.
    12. Goldstein, Michael A. & Namin, Elmira Shekari, 2023. "Corporate bond liquidity and yield spreads: A review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    13. Ivan T. & Tom Zimmermann, 2021. "The "Privatization" of Municipal Debt," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 062, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    14. Sergey Chernenko & Isil Erel & Robert Prilmeier, 2019. "Why Do Firms Borrow Directly from Nonbanks?," NBER Working Papers 26458, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Celil, Hursit S. & Julio, Brandon & Selvam, Srinivasan, 2023. "Investment sensitivity to lender default shocks," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Iwaki, Hiromichi & Saito, Junyu, 2022. "Does rollover risk matter to payout policies? Evidence from Japanese listed firms," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    17. Kiyoung Chang & Ying Li & Ha‐Chin Yi, 2021. "Informed equity ownership and bank loan contracting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7-8), pages 1368-1403, July.
    18. Kay Giesecke & Francis A. Longstaff & Stephen Schaefer & Ilya Strebulaev, 2010. "Corporate Bond Default Risk: A 150-Year Perspective," NBER Working Papers 15848, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Gustafson, Matthew T. & Ivanov, Ivan T. & Meisenzahl, Ralf R., 2021. "Bank monitoring: Evidence from syndicated loans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 452-477.
    20. May, Anthony D., 2014. "Corporate liquidity and the contingent nature of bank credit lines: Evidence on the costs and consequences of bank default," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 410-429.

    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:jfinan:v:75:y:2020:i:2:p:905-947. 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/afaaaea.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.