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Firm age and the evolution of borrowing costs: Evidence from Japanese small firms

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  • Sakai, Koji
  • Uesugi, Iichiro
  • Watanabe, Tsutomu

Abstract

This paper investigates how firms' borrowing costs evolve as they age. Using a new panel data set of about 100,000 bank-dependent small firms for 1997-2002 and focusing on the channel of "adaptation" (i.e., surviving firms' borrowing costs decline as they age) and that of "selection" (i.e., total borrowing costs decline as defaulting firms exit), we find that the reputation hypothesis suggested by Diamond (1989) provides a more plausible explanation of the downward sloping age profile of borrowing costs than the firm dynamics (Cooley and Quadrini, 2001) or the relationship banking (Boot and Thakor, 1994) hypothesis. In addition, we examine whether the firm selection process in Japan has been natural or unnatural. Our findings suggest that it has been natural in that firms with lower quality are separated, face higher borrowing costs, and are eventually forced to exit, which contrasts with the results of previous studies on credit allocations in Japan, including Peek and Rosengren (2005). Further, we find that the evolution of borrowing costs is partially due to selection but is mainly attributable to adaptation.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Banking & Finance.

Volume (Year): 34 (2010)
Issue (Month): 8 (August)
Pages: 1970-1981

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Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:34:y:2010:i:8:p:1970-1981

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbf

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Keywords: Credit allocation Reputation Selection Relationship banking Firm dynamics;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. UCHINO Taisuke & UESUGI Iichiro, 2012. "The Effects of a Megabank Merger on Firm-Bank Relationships and Borrowing Costs," Discussion papers 12022, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
  2. Kaoru Hosono & Miho Takizawa, 2012. "Do Financial Frictions Matter as a Source of Misallocation? Evidence from Japan," Discussion papers ron246, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan.
  3. Ricardo J. Caballero & Takeo Hoshi & Anil K. Kashyap, 2006. "Zombie Lending and Depressed Restructuring in Japan," NBER Working Papers 12129, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Rahaman, Mohammad M., 2011. "Access to financing and firm growth," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 709-723, March.
  5. Uchida, Hirofumi & Miyakawa, Daisuke & Hosono, Kaoru & Ono, Arito & Uchino, Taisuke & Uesugi, Iichiro, 2013. "Natural Disaster and Natural Selection," Working Paper Series 25, Center for Interfirm Network, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
  6. Brockman, Paul & Unlu, Emre, 2011. "Earned/contributed capital, dividend policy, and disclosure quality: An international study," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1610-1625, July.
  7. Andrea Bellucci & Alexander V. Borisov & Alberto Zazzaro, 2013. "Do Banks Price Discriminate Spatially? Evidence from Small Business Lending in Local Credit Markets," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 79, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
  8. Bellucci, Andrea & Borisov, Alexander & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2010. "Does gender matter in bank-firm relationships? Evidence from small business lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2968-2984, December.
  9. Sohn, Wook, 2010. "Market response to bank relationships: Evidence from Korean bank reform," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2042-2055, September.

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