Foreign Bank Lending and Information Asymmetries in China

27 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2011

See all articles by Laurent Weill

Laurent Weill

University of Strasbourg - LaRGE Research Center (Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie)

Pierre Pessarossi

French Banking Supervisory Authority - Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR)

Christophe J. Godlewski

University of Strasbourg - Faculty of Law and Business; EM Strasbourg Business School; LaRGE Research Center

Date Written: December 28, 2010

Abstract

This paper considers whether information asymmetries affect the willingness of foreign banks to participate in syndicated loans to corporate borrowers in China. In line with theoretical literature, ownership concentration of the borrowing firm is assumed to influence information asymmetries in the relationship between the borrower and the lender. We analyze how ownership concentration influences the participation of foreign banks in a loan syndicate using a sample of syndicated loans granted to Chinese borrowers in the period 2004-2009 for which we have information on ownership concentration. We observe that greater ownership concentration of the borrowing firm does not positively influence participation of foreign banks in the loan syndicate. Additional estimations using alternative specifications provide similar results. As foreign banks do not react positively to ownership concentration, we conclude that information asymmetries are not exacerbated for foreign banks relative to local banks in China. Moreover, it appears that increased financial leverage discourages foreign bank participation, suggesting that domestic banks are less cautious in their risk management.

Keywords: bank, foreign investors, information asymmetry, loan, syndication, China

JEL Classification: G21, P34

Suggested Citation

Weill, Laurent and Pessarossi, Pierre and Godlewski, Christophe J., Foreign Bank Lending and Information Asymmetries in China (December 28, 2010). BOFIT Discussion Paper No. 20/2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1732519 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1732519

Laurent Weill (Contact Author)

University of Strasbourg - LaRGE Research Center (Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie) ( email )

61 Avenue de la Forêt Noire
F-67085 Strasbourg Cedex
France

Pierre Pessarossi

French Banking Supervisory Authority - Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) ( email )

Paris
France

Christophe J. Godlewski

University of Strasbourg - Faculty of Law and Business ( email )

1 place d'Athènes
Strasbourg, 67000
France

HOME PAGE: http://droit.unistra.fr/

EM Strasbourg Business School ( email )

61 Avenue de la Forêt Noire
Strasbourg, 67000
France

HOME PAGE: http://www.em-strasbourg.eu/

LaRGE Research Center ( email )

1 place d'Athènes
Strasbourg, 67000
France

HOME PAGE: http://droit.unistra.fr/

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