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Foreign Currency Borrowing by Small Firms

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  • Brown, Martin
  • Ongena, Steven
  • Yesin, Pinar

Abstract

We examine the firm- and country-level determinants of the currency denomination of small business loans. We first model the choice of loan currency in a framework which features a trade-off between lower cost of debt and the risk of firm-level distress costs, and also incorporates the impact of information asymmetry between banks and firms. When foreign currency funds come at a lower interest rate, all foreign currency earners as well as those local currency earners with high revenues and low distress costs choose foreign currency loans. When the banks have imperfect information on the currency and level of firm revenues, even more local earners switch to foreign currency loans, as they do not bear the full cost of the corresponding credit risk. We then test the implications of our model by using a 2005 survey with responses from 9,098 firms in 26 transition countries. The survey contains details on 3,105 recent bank loans. At the firm level, our findings suggest that firms with foreign currency income and assets are more likely to borrow in a foreign currency. In contrast, firm-level distress costs and financial transparency affect the currency denomination only weakly. At the country level, the interest rate advantages of foreign currency funds and the exchange rate volatility do not explain the foreign currency borrowing in our sample. However, foreign bank presence, weak corporate governance and the absence of capital controls encourage foreign currency borrowing. All in all, we cannot confirm that "carry-trade behavior" is the key driver of foreign currency borrowing by small firms in transition economies. Our results do, however, support the conjecture that banking-sector structures and institutions that aggravate information asymmetries may facilitate foreign currency borrowing.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 7540.

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Date of creation: Nov 2009
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7540

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Keywords: banking structure; competition; foreign currency borrowing; market structure;

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Marijana Ivanov & Marina Tkalec & Maruška Vizek, 2011. "The Determinants of Financial Euroization in a Post-Transition Country: Do Threshold Effects Matter?," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 61(3), pages 230-251, July.
  2. Brown, Martin & de Haas, Ralph, 2012. "Foreign banks and foreign currency lending in emerging Europe," MPRA Paper 36323, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. Brown, Martin & Ongena, Steven & Yesin, Pinar, 2011. "Foreign currency borrowing by small firms in the transition economies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 285-302, July.
  4. Beer, Christian & Ongena, Steven & Peter, Marcel, 2010. "Borrowing in foreign currency: Austrian households as carry traders," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 2198-2211, September.
  5. Martin Brown & Steven Ongena & Alexander Popov & Pinar Yeşin, 2011. "Who needs credit and who gets credit in Eastern Europe?," Economic Policy, CEPR & CES & MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 93-130, January.
  6. Jeromin Zettelmeyer & Piroska M. Nagy & Stephen Jeffrey, 2010. "Addressing private sector currency mismatches in emerging Europe," Working Papers 115, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Office of the Chief Economist.
  7. Brown, Martin & Kirschenmann, Karolin & Ongena, Steven, 2010. "Foreign Currency Loans - Demand or Supply Driven?," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Hannover 2010 8, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
  8. Marina Tkalec, 2013. "Monetary Determinants of Deposit Euroization in European Post-Transition Countries," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 60(1), pages 89-101, March.
  9. Raphael Auer & Sébastien Kraenzlin, 2011. "International liquidity provision during the financial crisis: a view from Switzerland," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Nov, pages 409-418.
  10. Brown, M. & Ongena, S. & Yesin, P., 2011. "Information Asymmetry and Foreign Currency Borrowing by Small Firms," Discussion Paper 2011-099, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
  11. Hartwell, Christopher A., 2011. "All That’s Old is New Again: Capital Controls and the Macroeconomic Determinants of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets," MPRA Paper 40257, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  12. Brown, Martin & Lane, Philip R., 2011. "Debt overhang in emerging Europe ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5784, The World Bank.
  13. Brown, Martin & Maurer, Maria Rueda & Pak, Tamara & Tynaev, Nurlanbek, 2009. "The impact of banking sector reform in a transition economy: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 1677-1687, September.
  14. Johannes Pann & Reinhardt Seliger & Julia Übeleis, 2010. "Foreign Currency Lending in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe: The Case of Austrian Banks," Financial Stability Report, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue 20, pages 56-76, December.

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