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Bank finance versus bond finance: what explains the differences between US and Europe?

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  • De Fiore, Fiorella
  • Uhlig, Harald

Abstract

We present a dynamic general equilibrium model with agency costs, where heterogeneous firms choose among two alternative instruments of external finance - corporate bonds and bank loans. We characterize the financing choice of firms and the endogenous financial structure of the economy. The calibrated model is used to address questions such as: What explains differences in the financial structure of the US and the euro area? What are the implications of these differences for allocations? We find that a higher share of bank finance in the euro area relative to the US is due to lower availability of public information about firms' credit worthiness and to higher efficiency of banks in acquiring this information. We also quantify the effect of differences in the financial structure on per-capita GDP. JEL Classification: E20, E44, C68

Suggested Citation

  • De Fiore, Fiorella & Uhlig, Harald, 2005. "Bank finance versus bond finance: what explains the differences between US and Europe?," Working Paper Series 547, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:2005547
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    Cited by:

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    2. Fabio Verona & Manuel M. F. Martins & Inês Drumond, 2011. "Monetary policy shocks in a DSGE model with a shadow banking system," CEF.UP Working Papers 1101, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    3. Goddard, John & Molyneux, Philip & Wilson, John O.S. & Tavakoli, Manouche, 2007. "European banking: An overview," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1911-1935, July.
    4. Liu, Zheng & Miao, Jianjun & Zha, Tao, 2016. "Land prices and unemployment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 86-105.
    5. Virginia Queijo von Heideken, 2009. "How Important are Financial Frictions in the United States and the Euro Area?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(3), pages 567-596, September.
    6. Katheryn N. Russ & Diego Valderrama, 2009. "Financial choice in a non-Ricardian model of trade," Working Paper Series 2009-27, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    7. Diego Valderrama & Katheryn N. Russ, 2009. "A Theory of Banks, Bonds, and the Distribution of Firm Size," Working Papers 4, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    8. Roberto Motto & Massimo Rostagno & Lawrence J. Christiano, 2010. "Financial Factors in Economic Fluctuations," 2010 Meeting Papers 141, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Gelain, Paolo, 2010. "The external finance premium in the Euro area: A dynamic stochastic general equilibrium analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 49-71, March.
    10. In't Veld, Jan & Raciborski, Rafal & Ratto, Marco & Roeger, Werner, 2011. "The recent boom-bust cycle: The relative contribution of capital flows, credit supply and asset bubbles," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 386-406, April.
    11. Edward Nelson, 2008. "Why Money Growth Determines Inflation in the Long Run: Answering the Woodford Critique," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(8), pages 1791-1814, December.
    12. Zheng Liu & Pengfei Wang & Tao Zha, 2009. "Do credit constraints amplify macroeconomic fluctuations?," Working Paper Series 2009-28, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    13. Kjell Sümegi & Peter Haiss, 2006. "The Relationship of Insurance and Economic Growth - a Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," EcoMod2006 272100091, EcoMod.
    14. Guangling Dave Liu & Nkhahle E. Seeiso, 2011. "Business Cycle and Bank Capital Regulation: Basel II Procyclicality," Working Papers 221, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    15. Kwapil, Claudia & Scharler, Johann, 2010. "Interest rate pass-through, monetary policy rules and macroeconomic stability," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 236-251, March.
    16. Merola, Rossana, 2010. "Optimal monetary policy in a small open economy with financial frictions," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2010,01, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    17. Scharler, Johann, 2008. "Do bank-based financial systems reduce macroeconomic volatility by smoothing interest rates?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 1207-1221, September.
    18. Goodell, John W. & Goyal, Abhinav, 2018. "What determines debt structure in emerging markets: Transaction costs or public monitoring?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 184-195.
    19. Russ, Katheryn N. & Valderrama, Diego, 2012. "A theory of bank versus bond finance and intra-industry reallocation," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 652-673.
    20. Denise Côté & Christopher Graham, 2007. "Corporate Balance Sheets in Developed Economies: Implications for Investment," Staff Working Papers 07-24, Bank of Canada.
    21. Zheng Liu & Pengfei Wang & Tao Zha, 2013. "Land‐Price Dynamics and Macroeconomic Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(3), pages 1147-1184, May.
    22. Diego Valderrama & Katheryn N. Russ, "undated". "A Theory of Banks, Bonds, and the Distribution of Firm Size," Working Papers 915, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    23. Mr. Luc Laeven, 2014. "The Development of Local Capital Markets: Rationale and Challenges," IMF Working Papers 2014/234, International Monetary Fund.
    24. ZHANG, Jiarui & HOU, Lei, 2014. "Financial structure, productivity, and risk of foreign direct investment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 652-669.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    agency costs; financial structure; heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models

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