Do Firms Benefit from Multiple Banking Relationships?: Evidence from Small and Medium-Sized Firms in Japan

This paper examines empirically the effects of multiple banking relationships on the cost and availability of credit. The analysis is based on an unbalanced panel data set for Japanese small and medium-sized firms over the period 2000-2002. The Hausman-Taylor estimator is used to allow for possible correlation between unobservable heterogeneity among firms and multiple banking relationships. The results suggest that the cost of credit is positively correlated with the number of banking relationships when the endogeneity of the banking relationships is considered. Multiple banking relationships have a positive effect on the availability of credit for financially constrained firms.

Firm Entry, Growth, and Bank Competition

本論文では、地域金融市場における銀行間競争が開業率や事業所規模に与える影響について、『事業所・企業統計調査』(総務省)の集計データを用いて実証分析を行った。分析から、外部資金依存度が高く無形資産比率の比較的高い産業では地域金融市場が寡占的であるほど、開業率は低く、事業所の平均的な規模も小さいことが発見された。この結果は、地域金融市場の集中度が高いほど情報の非対称度が高い企業への信用供与が行われにくく、企業が創出されにくくなっているとともに、企業成長も抑制されている可能性を示唆する。This paper investigates empirically the effects of competition in the financial sector on the creation and growth of establishments in the regional economy. Banking competition is found to have a negative effect on the creation and average size of establishments in industries with a greater dependence on external financing and fewer intangible assets. These results suggest that in concentrated banking markets, potential entrants are more likely to face difficulty obtaining credit and are less likely to grow than in competitive banking markets

Investment Spikes and Adjustment toward Target Leverage: Evidence from Japan

This study presents an empirical investigation whether lumpy investmentbehaviors by firms affect their readjustment toward target leverage ratios. Using a data sample of Japanese listed firms from1978?2008, it is found that firm investment spikes have a larger effect on debt than equity issuances. The positive effect of investments on debt issue is greater for firms with below-target debt than for those with above-target debt. The results imply that firms with below-target debt might move toward the target whereas those withabove-target debt move away from it during large investments. It is also found that financially constrained firms, with above-target debt, are more responsive to investment spikes than their financially unconstrained counterparts.村田省三教授、バスー・ディパック教授定年退職記念号In Honour of Prof. Shozo Murata and Prof. Dipak R. Bas