When Arm's Length is Too Far. Relationship Banking Over the Business Cycle

42 Pages Posted: 30 Aug 2014

See all articles by Thorsten Beck

Thorsten Beck

City University London - The Business School; Tilburg University - European Banking Center, CentER

Hans Degryse

KU Leuven - Faculty of Business and Economics (FEB)

Ralph De Haas

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); KU Leuven

Neeltje van Horen

Bank of England; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 7, 2014

Abstract

Using a novel way to identify relationship and transaction banks, we study how banks’ lending techniques affect funding to SMEs over the business cycle. For 21 countries we link the lending techniques that banks use in the direct vicinity of firms to these firms’ credit constraints at two contrasting points of the business cycle. We show that relationship lending alleviates credit constraints during a cyclical downturn but not during a boom period. The positive impact of relationship lending in an economic downturn is strongest for smaller and more opaque firms and in regions where the downturn is more severe.

Keywords: relationship banking, credit constraints, business cycle

JEL Classification: F36, G21, L26, O12, 016

Suggested Citation

Beck, Thorsten and Degryse, Hans and De Haas, Ralph and van Horen, Neeltje, When Arm's Length is Too Far. Relationship Banking Over the Business Cycle (July 7, 2014). BOFIT Discussion Paper No. 14/2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2489017 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2489017

Thorsten Beck (Contact Author)

City University London - The Business School ( email )

106 Bunhill Row
London, EC1Y 8TZ
United Kingdom

Tilburg University - European Banking Center, CentER ( email )

PO Box 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

Hans Degryse

KU Leuven - Faculty of Business and Economics (FEB) ( email )

Naamsestraat 69
Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

Ralph De Haas

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( email )

One Exchange Square
London, EC2A 2JN
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: www.ebrd.com

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

KU Leuven

Naamsestraat 69
Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

Neeltje Van Horen

Bank of England ( email )

Threadneedle Street
London, EC2R 8AH
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/research/Researchers/neeltje-van-horen

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
358
Abstract Views
2,149
Rank
59,341
PlumX Metrics