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Why Do Banks Ask for Collateral and Which Ones ?

Author

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  • Régis Blazy
  • Laurent Weill

    () (Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie, Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Strasbourg)

Abstract

This paper aims at testing empirically the three major theoretical reasons why banks resort to collateral: reduction of loan loss in the event of default, adverse selection, and moral hazard. This investigation is performed by testing whether the reasons vary according to the type of collateral. We use a unique dataset of bank loans granted to French distressed firms, which contains the full information on debt contract characteristics, including the cause of default, the type and the value of all collaterals. Our work suggests that information asymmetries are not of prime importance in the decision of the bank to secure a loan, as no type of collateral helps to solve adverse selection and moral hazard problems. The reduction of the loan loss and the observed-risk hypothesis may however explain the use of collateral.

Suggested Citation

  • Régis Blazy & Laurent Weill, 2006. "Why Do Banks Ask for Collateral and Which Ones ?," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2006-03, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lar:wpaper:2006-03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Amedeo Argentiero, 2009. "Some New Evidence on the Role of Collateral: Lazy Banks or Diligent Banks?," ISAE Working Papers 113, ISTAT - Italian National Institute of Statistics - (Rome, ITALY).
    2. Fidrmuc, Jarko & Hainz, Christa, 2010. "Default rates in the loan market for SMEs: Evidence from Slovakia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 133-147, June.
    3. Evžen Kocenda & Martin Vojtek, 2009. "Default Predictors and Credit Scoring Models for Retail Banking," CESifo Working Paper Series 2862, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Collateral; Bank; Credit Risk.;

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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