Banks’ Market Power, Access to Finance, and Leverage

M Cecilia Bustamante and Francesco D’Acunto

The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 2024, vol. 13, issue 4, 889-930

Abstract: How does lending-market competitiveness shape new firms’ financing? Using a unique U.S. representative panel of new firms, we document that in more concentrated local lending markets: (a) new firms are less likely to access credit; (b) new firms have lower leverage; and (c) the best-performing firms are more severely affected by reduced debt financing. We develop a contingent-claims model with monopolistically competitive banks that rationalizes these facts and shows how credit-market conditions determine loan fees and concentration. Our findings highlight banks’ market power as a channel through which the financial sector influences firms’ development and, hence, economic growth. (JEL D82, G21, G32, G34, L26)

Date: 2024
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