Publications

SSRN

2011
Working Paper

Cyclicality of Credit Supply: Firm Level Evidence

By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina

Theory predicts that there is a close link between bank credit supply and the evolution of the business cycle. Yet fluctuations in bank-loan supply have been hard to quantify in the time-series. While loan issuance falls in recessions, it is not clear if this is due to... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Banks and Banking; Bonds; Financial Markets; Financing and Loans; Banking Industry

SSRN

29 Jan 2017
News

How this bank keeps small-business clients away from online lenders

September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

Jo Ellery is a PhD student in the Business Economics Program, interested in public economics, macroeconomics, and labor economics. Their research focuses on the origins and impacts of regulation, including student loan regulation and the impact of public comments on... View Details

June 2023
Article

Why Is Dollar Debt Cheaper? Evidence from Peru

By: Bryan Gutiérrez, Victoria Ivashina and Juliana Salomao

In emerging markets, a significant share of corporate loans are denominated in dollars. Using novel data that enables us to see currency and the cost of credit, in addition to several other transaction-level characteristics, we re-examine the reasons behind dollar... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Corporate Debt; Currency Mismatch; Liability Dollarization; Carry Trade; Currency; Emerging Markets; Borrowing and Debt; Interest Rates; Peru

SSRN

October 1991 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Butler Lumber Company

By: Thomas R. Piper

The Butler Lumber Co. is faced with a need for increased bank financing due to its rapid sales growth and low profitability. Students must determine the reasons for the rising bank borrowing, estimate the amount of borrowing needed, and assess the attractiveness of the... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Banking; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Capital Structure; Forecasting and Prediction

03 Sep 2015
News

An Online Bank With a Personal Touch

Bank Capital and the Growth of Private Credit

We show that business development companies (BDCs)—closed-end funds that provide a significant share of nonbank loans to middle market firms—are very well capitalized according to bank capital frameworks. They have median risk-based capital ratios of about 36% and,... View Details

September 1997 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Adelphia Communications Corporation

By: Paul M. Healy

A bank officer must make a loan application decision for a large but financially troubled cable broadcaster. View Details

Keywords: Financial Condition; Financing and Loans; Decision Choices and Conditions; Contracts; Telecommunications Industry

July 2011
Article

The Private Equity Advantage: Leveraged Buyout Firms and Relationship Banking

By: Victoria Ivashina and Anna Kovner

This paper examines the impact of leveraged buyout firms' bank relationships on the terms of their syndicated loans. Using a sample of 1,590 loans financing private equity sponsored leveraged buyouts between 1993 and 2005, we find that bank relationships are an... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Interest Rates; Investment Return; Relationships; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

24 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 24

an Experiment with Commercial Bank Loan Officers Authors:Shawn Cole, Martin Kanz, and Leora Klapper Abstract This paper uses a series of experiments with commercial bank loan officers to test the effect of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Apr 2020
News

Small business advocates fear many will be left out of new PPP funding

April 2014
Article

Can an 'Ethical' Bank Support Guns and Fracking?

By: Christopher Marquis and Juan Almandoz

A case study is presented on business ethics and bank management. The situation facing the president of a community bank established to operate as a green business and to consider ethical issues of bank loans when it is considering an application for a large commercial... View Details

Find at Harvard

March 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Zopa: The Power of Peer-to-Peer Lending

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Isabel Fernandez-Mateo and David Chen

Zopa, a U.K.-based peer-to-peer lending company, connected individual lenders and borrowers via an online interface. The company charged a small fee for completed loan transactions but has not turned a profit. Zopa offered two platforms, Markets and Listings. Markets... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Personal Finance; Market Participation; Digital Platforms; Social and Collaborative Networks; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

November 1997 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Finansol

By: James E. Austin, Roberto Gutierrez, Marc Labie and Enrique Ogliastri

Finansol, created to provide loans to micro-entrepreneurs, encountered considerable difficulties after rapidly growing to become the biggest micro-enterprise lender in Colombia. Major restructuring was required to rescue it. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Microfinance; Crisis Management; Problems and Challenges; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

15 Dec 2016
News

Trump must see that small business is the engine of America

June 2015 (Revised July 2016)
Case

Gilbert Lumber Company

By: Steven Rogers and Kenneth Cooper

The Gilbert Lumber Co. is faced with a need for increased bank financing due to its rapid sales growth and low profitability. Students must determine the reasons for the rising bank borrowing, estimate the amount of borrowing needed, and assess the attractiveness of... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Banking; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Capital Structure; Forecasting and Prediction

December 1991 (Revised November 1993)
Case

U.S. Bank of Washington

A vice president of the U.S. Bank of Washington, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, is asked to review a $6.5 million loan request from the Redhook Ale Brewery, a Seattle-based microbrewery. The case provides an understanding of the U.S. commercial banking industry and the... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Financing and Loans; Financial Statements; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; Seattle

March 1994
Case

Fremont Financial Corporation (B)

Fremont has a third option to finance its loan portfolio, which involves securitizing and selling the small-business loans into the capital markets. Emphasizes asymmetric information and moral hazard problems involved in designing an asset securitization. When used in... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry