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Labor unemployment insurance and bank loans

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  • Shen, Yi

Abstract

I investigate the influence of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits on the cost of bank loans by exploiting changes in state unemployment insurance laws as a source of variation in labor unemployment costs. The evidence shows that the cost of bank loans is significantly lower for firms headquartered in states with more generous UI programs. The relation between UI benefits and the cost of bank loans is more pronounced for firms that face higher unionization rates, are more labor intensive, or have a higher layoff propensity. These results are robust to controlling for loan characteristics, macroeconomic conditions, and borrower characteristics and using fixed effect regressions. I also find further evidence of a causal relation between UI benefits and the cost of bank loans through a difference-in-differences (DID) approach. Overall, the results suggest that the credit market evaluates workers' unemployment costs while approving and pricing loan contracts.

Suggested Citation

  • Shen, Yi, 2022. "Labor unemployment insurance and bank loans," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:76:y:2022:i:c:s0929119922000979
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102254
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