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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title “Sorry, We're Closed” Bank Branch Closures, Loan Pricing, and Information Asymmetries
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Diana Bonfim
  • Gil Nogueira
  • Steven Ongena
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title Review of Finance
Publisher Oxford University Press
Geographical Reach international
ISSN 1572-3097
Volume 25
Number 4
Page Range 1211 - 1259
Date 2021
Abstract Text We study local loan conditions when, under external pressure, banks close branches. After the closure of nearby branches of their credit granting banks, firms that locally and hurriedly transfer to other banks receive an equivalent interest rate. However, and in stark contrast, where branch closures do not take place firms that purposely switch banks receive a 63 basis points discount. At the same time, the loan default rate for the (more expensive) transfer loans is on average a full percentage point lower than that for the (cheaper) switching loans. This suggests that firms that establish new relationships after their bank branch closes are “better” than regular switchers in terms of unobservable characteristics. Taken together, these findings provide evidence of losses for firms when banks close branches, even if local markets remain competitive.
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Official URL https://academic.oup.com/rof/article/25/4/1211/5985541?login=true
Related URLs
Digital Object Identifier 10.1093/rof/rfaa036
Other Identification Number merlin-id:20782
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