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Relationship Lending and the Great Depression

Author

Listed:
  • Jon Cohen

    (University of Toronto)

  • Kinda Hachem

    (UVA Darden and NBER)

  • Gary Richardson

    (UC Irvine and NBER)

Abstract

The collapse of long-term lending relationships amplified the Great Depression. We demonstrate this by developing a new measure of lending relationships that can be calculated from widely available data at any level of aggregation. Our approach exploits differences in the responsiveness of loan rates to bank funding costs and is supported by historical evidence and theoretical arguments. The new measure reveals that the marginal impact of bank suspensions on economic activity was higher in more relationship-intensive areas, providing the first formal evidence that relationship lending propagated the real effects of banking sector distress in the early 1930s.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon Cohen & Kinda Hachem & Gary Richardson, 2021. "Relationship Lending and the Great Depression," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(3), pages 505-520, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:103:y:2021:i:3:p:505-520
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00899
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jaremski, Matthew & Richardson, Gary & Vossmeyer, Angela, 2025. "Signals and stigmas from banking interventions: Lessons from the Bank Holiday of 1933," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    2. Sharma, Vivek, 2025. "Real effects of bank shocks," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Tali Bank & Nimrod Segev & Maya Shaton, 2023. "Relationship Banking and Credit Scores: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2023.05, Bank of Israel.
    4. Zachary Bethune & Guillaume Rocheteau & Tsz-Nga Wong & Cathy Zhang, 2022. "Lending Relationships and Optimal Monetary Policy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(4), pages 1833-1872.
    5. Nobel Prize Committee, 2022. "Financial Intermediation and the Economy," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2022-2, Nobel Prize Committee.
    6. Sutherland, Andrew, 2018. "Does credit reporting lead to a decline in relationship lending? Evidence from information sharing technology," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 123-141.
    7. Angel, Marco Del & Richardson, Gary, 2024. "Independent regulators and financial stability evidence from gubernatorial election campaigns in the Progressive Era," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • N22 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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