IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hst/ghsdps/gd12-233.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of a Megabank Merger on Firm-Bank Relationships and Borrowing Costs

Author

Listed:
  • Taisuke Uchino
  • Iichiro Uesugi

Abstract

Using a unique dataset of non-listed firms that identifies the banks the firms transact with, we examine the effects of the largest-ever bank merger in Japan, that between Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTM) and UFJ Bank (UFJ) in 2005. We focus on how the merger affected firms through their firm-bank relationships. Specifically, we examine whether there are any differences in how the availability of loans evolved over time for firms that prior to the merger transacted with both of the merged banks, with one of the merged banks, or with none of them. We find the following: (1) Firms that had transacted with both BTM and UFJ saw their borrowing costs increase by 40bp relative to those that had transacted with neither of them. (2) Firms that transacted with one of the two banks saw their borrowing costs increase by a smaller but still significant margin of 20bp relative to those that had transacted with neither of them. And (3) we do not find a significant difference in the extent that borrowing costs increased between firms that transacted with the acquiring bank (BTM) and those that transacted with the acquired bank (UFJ). These results suggest that the bank merger increased firm's borrowing costs partly through the exogenous decrease in the number of firm-bank relationships and partly through changes in the organizational structure of the merged bank, including a consolidation of the branch network.

Suggested Citation

  • Taisuke Uchino & Iichiro Uesugi, 2012. "The Effects of a Megabank Merger on Firm-Bank Relationships and Borrowing Costs," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd12-233, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
  • Handle: RePEc:hst:ghsdps:gd12-233
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://gcoe.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/research/discussion/2008/pdf/gd12-233.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ricardo J. Caballero & Takeo Hoshi & Anil K. Kashyap, 2008. "Zombie Lending and Depressed Restructuring in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1943-1977, December.
    2. Michael Lechner, 2002. "Program Heterogeneity And Propensity Score Matching: An Application To The Evaluation Of Active Labor Market Policies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 205-220, May.
    3. Carlos A. Flores & Oscar A. Mitnik, 2009. "Evaluating Nonexperimental Estimators for Multiple Treatments: Evidence from Experimental Data," Working Papers 2010-10, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    4. Joe Peek & Eric S. Rosengren, 2005. "Unnatural Selection: Perverse Incentives and the Misallocation of Credit in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1144-1166, September.
    5. Degryse, Hans & Van Cayseele, Patrick, 2000. "Relationship Lending within a Bank-Based System: Evidence from European Small Business Data," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 90-109, January.
    6. Berger, Allen N & Hannan, Timothy H, 1989. "The Price-Concentration Relationship in Banking," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(2), pages 291-299, May.
    7. Horiuchi, Akiyoshi & Packer, Frank & Fukuda, Shinichi, 1988. "What role has the "Main Bank" played in Japan?," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 159-180, June.
    8. Isil Erel, 2011. "The Effect of Bank Mergers on Loan Prices: Evidence from the United States," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 1068-1101.
    9. Uchida, Hirofumi & Udell, Gregory F. & Watanabe, Wako, 2008. "Bank size and lending relationships in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 242-267, June.
    10. Smith, David C., 2003. "Loans to Japanese borrowers," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 283-304, September.
    11. Sakai, Koji & Uesugi, Iichiro & Watanabe, Tsutomu, 2010. "Firm age and the evolution of borrowing costs: Evidence from Japanese small firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1970-1981, August.
    12. Hans Degryse & Nancy Masschelein & Janet Mitchell, 2011. "Staying, Dropping, or Switching: The Impacts of Bank Mergers on Small Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 1102-1140.
    13. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    14. Berger, Allen N. & Demsetz, Rebecca S. & Strahan, Philip E., 1999. "The consolidation of the financial services industry: Causes, consequences, and implications for the future," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(2-4), pages 135-194, February.
    15. Angelini, P. & Di Salvo, R. & Ferri, G., 1998. "Availability and cost of credit for small businesses: Customer relationships and credit cooperatives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 925-954, August.
    16. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. "Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-1400, September.
    17. Sharpe, Steven A, 1990. "Asymmetric Information, Bank Lending, and Implicit Contracts: A Stylized Model of Customer Relationships," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1069-1087, September.
    18. Emilia Bonaccorsi Di Patti & Giorgio Gobbi, 2007. "Winners or Losers? The Effects of Banking Consolidation on Corporate Borrowers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 669-695, April.
    19. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1994. "The Benefits of Lending Relationships: Evidence from Small Business Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-37, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Heather Montgomery & Yuki Takahashi, 2018. "Effect of Bank Mergers on Client Firms: Evidence from the Credit Supply Channel," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 69(4), pages 438-449, December.

    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. Uchino, Taisuke & Uesugi, Iichiro, 2022. "The effects of a megabank merger on firm-Bank relationships and loan availability☆," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    2. Ogura, Yoshiaki & Okui, Ryo & Saito, Yukiko Umeno, 2015. "Network-Motivated Lending Decisions," HIT-REFINED Working Paper Series 29, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    3. Ferri, Giovanni & Murro, Pierluigi, 2015. "Do firm–bank ‘odd couples’ exacerbate credit rationing?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 231-251.
    4. Nakashima, Kiyotaka & Takahashi, Koji, 2020. "The time has come for banks to say goodbye: New evidence on bank roles and duration effects in relationship terminations," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    5. Marcello Pagnini & Paola Rossi & Valerio Vacca & Iftekhar Hasan & Liuling Liu & Haizhi Wang & Xinting Zhen, 2017. "Bank Market Power and Loan Contracts: Empirical Evidence," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 46(3), pages 649-676, November.
    6. Heather Montgomery, 2022. "Should I Stay or Should I go Now? The Effect of Bank Mergers on Bank–Firm Relationships in Japan," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 390-417, June.
    7. Alessandro Gambini & Alberto Zazzaro, 2013. "Long-lasting bank relationships and growth of firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 977-1007, May.
    8. Ongena, S. & Smith, D.C., 2000. "Bank relationships : A review," Other publications TiSEM 993b88a5-9a0f-42de-9cec-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Höwer, Daniel, 2016. "The role of bank relationships when firms are financially distressed," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 59-75.
    10. Joseph J. French & Juxin Yan & Yukihiro Yasuda, 2019. "Relationships Matter: the Impact of Bank-Firm Relationships on Mergers and Acquisitions in Japan," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 259-305, December.
    11. Uchida, Hirofumi & Udell, Gregory F. & Yamori, Nobuyoshi, 2012. "Loan officers and relationship lending to SMEs," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 97-122.
    12. Annalisa Castelli & Gerald P. Dwyer & Iftekhar Hasan, 2006. "Bank relationships and small firms’ financial performance," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2006-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    13. Masami Imai & Seitaro Takarabe, 2009. "Bank Integration and Local Credit Cycle:Evidence from Japan," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2009-002, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    14. Berger, Allen N. & Klapper, Leora F. & Udell, Gregory F., 2001. "The ability of banks to lend to informationally opaque small businesses," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2127-2167, December.
    15. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2009_036 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Kano, Masaji & Uchida, Hirofumi & Udell, Gregory F. & Watanabe, Wako, 2011. "Information verifiability, bank organization, bank competition and bank-borrower relationships," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 935-954, April.
    17. Annalisa Castelli & Gerald P. Dwyer & Iftekhar Hasan, 2012. "Bank Relationships and Firms' Financial Performance: The Italian Experience," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 18(1), pages 28-67, January.
    18. Doris Neuberger & Christoph Schacht, 2005. "The Number of Bank Relationships of SMEs: A Disaggregated Analysis for the Swiss Loan Market," Finance 0506018, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. HOSONO Kaoru & XU Peng, 2009. "Do Banks Have Private Information? Bank screening and ex-post small firm performance," Discussion papers 09016, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    20. Brick, Ivan E. & Palia, Darius, 2007. "Evidence of jointness in the terms of relationship lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 452-476, July.
    21. Giovanni Ferri & Doris Neuberger, 2014. "The Banking Regulatory Bubble and How to Get out of It," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, issue 2, pages 39-69, April-Jun.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm-bank relationships; Interest rates; Switching costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    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:hst:ghsdps:gd12-233. 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: Tatsuji Makino (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iehitjp.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.