On the Non-Exclusivity of Loan Contracts: An Empirical Investigation

Credit contracts are non-exclusive. A string of theoretical papers shows that nonexclusivity generates important negative contractual externalities. Employing a unique dataset, we identify how the contractual externality stemming from the non-exclusivity of credit contracts affects credit supply. In particular, using internal information on a creditor’s willingness to lend, we find that a creditor reduces its loan supply when a borrower initiates a loan at another creditor. Consistent with the theoretical literature on contractual externalities, the effect is more pronounced the larger the loans from the other creditor. We also find that the initial creditor’s willingness to lend does not change if its existing and future loans retain seniority over the other creditors’ loans and are secured with assets whose value is high and stable over time.non-exclusivity;contractual externalities;credit supply;debt seniority

On the non-exclusivity of loan contracts: An empirical investigation.

A string of theoretical papers shows that the non-exclusivity of credit contracts generates important negative contractual externalities. Employing a unique dataset, we identify how these externalities affect the supply of credit. Using internal information on a creditor’s willingness to lend, we find that a creditor reduces its credit supply when a borrower obtains a loan at another creditor (an “outside loan”). Consistent with the theoretical literature, the effect is more pronounced the larger the outside loans and it is muted if the initial creditor’s existing and future loans retain seniority over the outside loans and are secured with valuable collateral.non-exclusivity; contractual externalities; credit supply; debt seniority;

Taking the twists into account: Predicting firm bankruptcy risk with splines of financial ratios

We demonstrate improvements in predictive power when introducing spline functions to take account of highly non-linear relationships between firm failure and earnings, leverage, and liquidity in a logistic bankruptcy model. Our results show that modeling excessive non-linearities yields substantially improved bankruptcy predictions, on the order of 70 to 90 percent, compared with a standard logistic model. The spline model provides several important and surprising insights into non-monotonic bankruptcy relationships. We find that low-leveraged and highly profitable firms are riskier than given by a standard model. These features are remarkably stable over time, suggesting that they are of a structural nature

Trade credit: Contract-level evidence contradicts current theories

We study 52 million trade credit contracts, issued by 51 suppliers over 9 years to about 199,000 unique customers. The data contain information on contract size, due dates, actual time to payment, and firm characteristics. Our empirical analysis contradicts the conventional view that trade credit is an inferior source of funding. Specifically, while we replicate the usual finding that payables are negatively related to customers' financial strength, our disaggregated data reveal that improvements in customers' financial conditions are primarily associated with a reduced value of input purchases rather than smaller trade credit usage. In fact, customers' financial conditions are unrelated to agreed contract duration and only modestly affect overdue payments. Moreover, the customer's size and share of the supplier's sales both have a positive impact on the due date. Overall, the evidence indicates that customers prefer trade credit over other available sources of funding and thus calls for a new theory of short-term finance

Challenges of Technological Implementation: An evaluative study of the BIM implementation process in a construction consultancy firm

As a mean of tackling the harsher business environment of today has use of various enterprise resource planning systems (ERPS) increased. It, thus, felt self-evident to focus on what implementation of such new technology would mean and involve both for a whole organization as well as its employees. The construction industry has a long history of and is characterized with project-based work and yet has voices from the industry spoken about the difficulties implementing such a business-appropriate ERPS as BIM into organizations. The purpose of this research study was hence to gain further insights into why implementation of BIM technology was not as effectively diffused and successfully implemented as hoped, given the specific circumstances of prior project work experience in the construction industry of today. The research question was meant to identify the challenges of the BIM implementation process. This research study was considered a case study in which an inductive, interpretative, qualitative research approach seemed most suitable. An internationally renowned construction consultancy company was approached and professionals of civil engineering background given the opportunity to participate in semi-structured phone interviews, which were recorded, transcribed and sorted according to relevant and recurring themes. A literature review of relevant theories connected to topics such as organizational development, change management, business process reengineering, and technological diffusion was conducted prior to this in order for theoretical framework to give possible explanations to the results of this study. As a result of this study were the challenges identified as unfamiliarity with the technological system, partial or little user adoption amongst professionals of the organization for various reasons, difficulties with reengineering business processes and technological software-related issues. Possible reasons to this seemed to be inconsistencies in directions and support given by top management. With an encompassing corporate strategy of BIM implementation throughout the organization but with weak support for various departments, units and professional roles did the process subsequently comprise confusion and opposition resulting in a slow-paced implementation process. Possible corporate improvements suggested by the researcher were increased number of professionals training and development of a corporate-specific platform in which BIM- and corporate-related information would be shared organization-wide. Looking over corporate structure and addressing different managers to be in charge for the development of the implementation process was another improvement suggestion. It would lastly be of interest for future researchers to make comparative studies of technological implementation processes with multiple industries in order to learn more

Forest machine operators experience of employers treatment of the question about the parental leav

Inom skogsbruket och i yrkesgruppen maskinförare är uttaget av föräldraledighet lågt i jämförelse med många andra branscher. Något annat som präglar skogsbranschen är att den är starkt mansdominerad och att det råder en brist på skogsmaskinförare. Bristen befaras bli ännu större inom en tioårsperiod. Många som lämnar maskinföraryrket gör detta i trettioårsåldern. Familjebildande kan antas ha skett då och studier har visat att en del av de som lämnar yrket gör det efter att de har varit missnöjda under en längre tid. Rätten att få vara ledig från sitt förvärvsarbete för vara hemma och ta hand om sitt barn är reglerat i lag och omfattar alla arbetstagare i Sverige. Under perioder som föräldern är hemma från sitt arbete kan denna utnyttja föräldraförsäkringen och få ut föräldrapenning från Försäkringskassan istället för lön från arbetsgivaren. Ett syfte med föräldraförsäkringen, som är en del av den svenska familjepolitiken, är att uppnå ökad jämställdhet mellan kvinnor och män. Tidigare studier har visat att föräldraledighetsuttaget är lågt bland män inom den privata sektorn och på mansdominerade arbetsplatser och att normer på arbetsplatserna kan påverka hur mycket som tas ut. Den här kvalitativa intervjustudien, som är gjord av en skogsmästarstudent under det första halvåret 2019, syftar till att undersöka om skogsmaskinförare upplevt hinder på sina arbetsplatser när det gäller att ta ut föräldraledighet och om detta bidragit till att de bytt arbetsplats eller till och med yrke. Med maskinförarnas egna berättelser som underlag är ambitionen att reda ut vad som skulle kunna vara annorlunda för att yrket ska vara mer attraktivt för småbarnsföräldrar. Resultatet visade att två av de åtta maskinförare som ingick i studien hade bytt arbetsplats på grund av dessa skäl, varav en av dem även lämnat yrket. Flera maskinförare ansåg att de ej hindrats från att vara lediga och de upplevde generellt en positiv attityd till att ta ut föräldraledighet på arbetsplatsen. De förbättrande åtgärder för att göra yrket attraktivt som föreslås av maskinförarna rör sig mest om arbetstider i samband med skiftgång och reslängd till arbetet. Några maskinförare efterfrågar även en förändrad inställning vad det gäller attityder till könsroller i branschen.The purpose of this study is to investigate how forest machine operators has experience of the employer’s treatment of the question of the parental leave. The study will also find out what they think could be different with an intention to keep the profession attractive for parents. There is an unequal advantage of parental leave between men and women in Sweden in general and not an exception among the forest machine operators which even belong to a profession dominated by men. Previous investigations have pointed out that men who working for small firms spend shorter time for parental leave and unwritten rules can be of importance. The study is based upon qualitative interviews with eight forest machine operators who has been home for parental leave recently. Two of the machine operators worked for big forest companies, six of them worked for small forest contractors. Seven of the machine operators are men and one of them a woman. The interviews carried out with appointments in April and May 2019. The conclusions of the study show that employers’ treatment of the question of the parental leave can be of importance in the choice of place of work but also that most of the machine operators have good experiences in the subject. The improvements proposed by the machine operators would be about more comfortable working hours and distance to the place of work. A new attitude to participation for men in the homework demands and a better financial situation for the forest contractors should create environments where the employers can be at home with a clear conscience

Från dokument till funktion - En studie över implementeringen av ett projektstyrningsverktyg i en byggverksamhet

Som en naturlig följd av det hårda och konkurrenskraftiga klimat som idag råder inom byggbranschen har organisationer i syfte att stärka sin roll på marknaden valt att satsa på och effektivisera kommunikation och hantering av projektdokumentation. I samband med rådande IT-utveckling har man därför utvecklat projektstyrningsverktyg i hopp om att optimera sin resursanvändning och underlätta det projektbaserade arbetet inom organisationen. Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka olika aspekter kring den förändring som sker inom en organisation vid införandet av ett projektstyrningsverktyg. De frågeställningar som legat till grund för studien har behandlat arbetet före respektive efter införandet av ett sådant verktyg, för att se hur det dokumentbaserade arbetet kan komma att påverkas. En avgränsning har gjorts till arbetet kring ett specifikt dokument, riskanalysen, då detta är ett dokument som hanteras och uppdateras löpande under hela byggprocessen. Undersökningen har genomförts som en fallstudie genom intervjuer med deltagare från NCC Construction på avdelning Hus Malmö-Lund, och urvalet har skett genom en kombination av stratifierat urval och möjlighetsurval. Beroende på om deltagarna haft kontakt med projektstyrningsverktyget eller inte har de sedan placerats in i kontroll- eller testgrupp. Då studien utförts i liten skala är det svårt att avgöra i vilken utsträckning arbetet förändrats. Studien bidrar med föreslagna åtgärder och vidareutvecklingar för en optimerad användning av verktyget. Studiens resultat kan tänkas vara av intresse för företag och organisationer med en förhoppning om att effektivisera och förbättra arbetsrutiner med ett projektstyrningsverktyg liknande det författarna valt att studera

On the nonexclusivity of loan contracts: An empirical investigation

We study how a bank's willingness to lend to a previously exclusive firm changes once the firm obtains a loan from another bank ("outside loan") and breaks an exclusive relationship. Using a difference-indifference analysis and a setting where outside loans are observable, we document that an outside loan triggers a decrease in the initial bank's willingness to lend to the firm, i.e., outside loans are strategic substitutes. Consistent with concerns about coordination problems and higher indebtedness, we find that this reaction is more pronounced the larger the outside loan and it is muted if the initial bank's existing and future loans retain seniority and are protected with valuable collateral. Our results give a benevolent role to transparency enabling banks to mitigate adverse effects from outside loans. The resulting substitute behavior may also act as a stabilizing force in credit markets limiting positive comovements between lenders, decreasing the possibility of credit freezes and financial crises