Document Type
Article
Subject Area(s)
Business - Finance
Abstract
This article examines the role of relationship lending in small firm finance. It examines price and nonprice terms of bank lines of credit (L/Cs) extended to small firms. The focus on LICs allows the examination of a type of loan contract in which the hank- borrower relationship is likely to be an important mechanism for solving the asymmetric information problems associated with financing small enterprises. We find that borrowers with longer banking relationships pay lower interest rates and are less likely to pledge collateral.These results are consistent with theoretical arguments that relationship lending generates valuable information about borrower quality.
Publication Info
Published in Journal of Business, Volume 68, Issue 3, 1995, pages 351-382.
Rights
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=jbusiness
© 1995 The University of Chicago Press