IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v64y2024i5p4825-4857.html

Banking competition and corporate risk: Micro evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Xianjun Cai
  • Subin Wen
  • Jiaming Huang

Abstract

Although an extensive body of research examines the impact of banking competition on the overall economy, less is known about how banking competition affects corporate risk. Using a sample of more than 12,909 firm‐year observations covering the period from 2001 to 2019, we find that increased banking competition significantly elevates corporate risk. The mechanism analysis indicates that bank competition promotes increased corporate risk‐taking by easing financing constraints. The observed effects are particularly strong among firms in their startup and growth stages, those operating in high‐interest rate environments, regions with lower levels of financial competition and industries characterised by intense product market competition. This paper sheds light on the understanding of the relationship between corporate risk and banking competition in one of the most important emerging economies. The take‐away lesson for policy‐makers here is to provide guidance for carefully considering the trade‐offs between increased banking competition and potential risks to financial stability. Also, banks need to strike a balance between fostering healthy competition and maintaining prudent risk management practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Xianjun Cai & Subin Wen & Jiaming Huang, 2024. "Banking competition and corporate risk: Micro evidence from China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(5), pages 4825-4857, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:64:y:2024:i:5:p:4825-4857
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.13362
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.13362
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.13362?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. Brandt,Loren & Rawski,Thomas G. (ed.), 2008. "China's Great Economic Transformation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885577, August.
    2. Ryan, Robert M. & O’Toole, Conor M. & McCann, Fergal, 2014. "Does bank market power affect SME financing constraints?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 495-505.
    3. Karthik Krishnan & Debarshi K. Nandy & Manju Puri, 2015. "Does Financing Spur Small Business Productivity? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1768-1809.
    4. David Martinez-Miera & Rafael Repullo, 2010. "Does Competition Reduce the Risk of Bank Failure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3638-3664, October.
    5. Zarutskie, Rebecca, 2006. "Evidence on the effects of bank competition on firm borrowing and investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 503-537, September.
    6. Murillo Campello & Chen Lin & Yue Ma & Hong Zou, 2011. "The Real and Financial Implications of Corporate Hedging," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1615-1647, October.
    7. Stiroh, Kevin J, 2004. "Diversification in Banking: Is Noninterest Income the Answer?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(5), pages 853-882, October.
    8. Chong, Terence Tai-Leung & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2013. "Does banking competition alleviate or worsen credit constraints faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3412-3424.
    9. Assaf Eisdorfer, 2008. "Empirical Evidence of Risk Shifting in Financially Distressed Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 609-637, April.
    10. Goetz, Martin R. & Laeven, Luc & Levine, Ross, 2016. "Does the geographic expansion of banks reduce risk?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 346-362.
    11. Cornaggia, Jess & Li, Jay Yin, 2019. "The value of access to finance: Evidence from M&As," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 232-250.
    12. Astrid A. Dick, 2006. "Nationwide Branching and Its Impact on Market Structure, Quality, and Bank Performance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(2), pages 567-592, March.
    13. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 1995. "The Effect of Credit Market Competition on Lending Relationships," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 407-443.
    14. Mara Faccio & Maria-Teresa Marchica & Roberto Mura, 2011. "Large Shareholder Diversification and Corporate Risk-Taking," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(11), pages 3601-3641.
    15. Mark S. Seasholes & Ning Zhu, 2010. "Individual Investors and Local Bias," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1987-2010, October.
    16. Brandt,Loren & Rawski,Thomas G. (ed.), 2008. "China's Great Economic Transformation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521712903, August.
    17. Mark G. Guzman, 2000. "Bank structure, capital accumulation and growth: a simple macroeconomic model," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 16(2), pages 421-455.
    18. Berger, Allen N. & Chen, Ruiyuan (Ryan) & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane, 2020. "Who wins and who loses from bank geographic deregulation? Analysis of financially constrained and unconstrained firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    19. Leon, Florian, 2015. "Does bank competition alleviate credit constraints in developing countries?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 130-142.
    20. Kerr, William R. & Nanda, Ramana, 2009. "Democratizing entry: Banking deregulations, financing constraints, and entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 124-149, October.
    21. Jiang, Tianjiao & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Wei, Lai, 2020. "Bank deregulation and corporate risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    22. Johan Hombert & Adrien Matray, 2017. "The Real Effects of Lending Relationships on Innovative Firms and Inventor Mobility," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(7), pages 2413-2445.
    23. Butler, Alexander W. & Cornaggia, Jess, 2011. "Does access to external finance improve productivity? Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 184-203, January.
    24. Degryse, Hans & Ongena, Steven, 2007. "The impact of competition on bank orientation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 399-424, July.
    25. Lemmon, Michael & Roberts, Michael R., 2010. "The Response of Corporate Financing and Investment to Changes in the Supply of Credit," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 555-587, June.
    26. Sumit Agarwal, 2010. "Distance and Private Information in Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2757-2788, July.
    27. Viral V. Acharya & Douglas Gale & Tanju Yorulmazer, 2011. "Rollover Risk and Market Freezes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(4), pages 1177-1209, August.
    28. Gort, Michael & Klepper, Steven, 1982. "Time Paths in the Diffusion of Product Innovations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(367), pages 630-653, September.
    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. Jiang, Tianjiao & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Wei, Lai, 2020. "Bank deregulation and corporate risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    2. Cathcart, Lara & Dufour, Alfonso & Rossi, Ludovico & Varotto, Simone, 2024. "Corporate bankruptcy and banking deregulation: The effect of financial leverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    3. Li, Bo & Cheng, Yue & Tian, Guangning, 2024. "Bank competition and firm asset- debt maturity mismatch: Evidence from the SMEs in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Berger, Allen N. & Molyneux, Phil & Wilson, John O.S., 2020. "Banks and the real economy: An assessment of the research," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Florian Leon, 2015. "What do we know about the role of bank competition in Africa?," CERDI Working papers halshs-01164864, HAL.
    6. Liang, Shuo & Moreira, Fernando & Lee, Joosung, 2025. "Bank geographic diversification and market competition," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    7. Alin Marius Andrieș & Nicu Marcu & Florin Oprea & Mihaela Tofan, 2018. "Financial Infrastructure and Access to Finance for European SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-15, September.
    8. Li, Shengfeng & Han, Liang & Mi, Biao, 2024. "The effects of banking market structure on corporate cash holdings and the value of cash," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Berger, Allen N. & Chen, Ruiyuan (Ryan) & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane, 2020. "Who wins and who loses from bank geographic deregulation? Analysis of financially constrained and unconstrained firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Tian, Guangning & Li, Bo & Cheng, Yue, 2022. "Bank competition and corporate financial asset holdings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Ana Mol-Gómez-Vázquez & Ginés Hernández-Cánovas & Johanna Koëter-Kant, 2019. "Bank market power and the intensity of borrower discouragement: analysis of SMEs across developed and developing European countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 211-225, June.
    12. Liu, Frank Hong & Wu, Qiang & Zhou, Yue, 2024. "Bank deregulation and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Lengwiler, Yvan & Rishabh, Kumar, 2017. "Credit from the Monopoly Bank," Working papers 2017/15, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    14. Pietro Grandi & Caroline Ninou Bozou, 2023. "Bank Market Power and Access to Credit: Bank-Firm Level Evidence From the Euro Area," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 63(1), pages 63-90, February.
    15. Lai, Shaojie & Chen, Lihan & Wang, Qing Sophie & Anderson, Hamish D., 2023. "Bank competition and corporate employment: Evidence from the geographic distribution of bank branches in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    16. Berger, Allen N. & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Roman, Raluca A., 2022. "Geographic deregulation and banks’ cost of equity capital," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    17. Wang, Xiaodong & Han, Liang & Huang, Xing, 2020. "Bank market power and SME finance: Firm-bank evidence from European countries," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    18. Pietro Grandi & Caroline Ninou Bozou, 2018. "Bank competition and firm credit availability: firm-bank evidence from Europe," Working Papers hal-01897744, HAL.
    19. Li, Shuangyan & Fu, Huan & Wen, Jun & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2020. "Separation of ownership and control for Chinese listed firms: Effect on the cost of debt and the moderating role of bank competition," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    20. Drexler, Alejandro & Guettler, Andre & Taskin, Ahmet Ali, 2023. "Competition between arm’s length and relational lenders: Who wins the contest?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 137(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:64:y:2024:i:5:p:4825-4857. 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.