Published2012Journal of Financial Economics

Friends with money

Authors: Engelberg, Gao, Parsons

Abstract

When banks and firms are connected through interpersonal linkages - such as their respective management having attended college or previously worked together - interest rates are markedly reduced, comparable with single shifts in credit ratings. These rate concessions do not appear to reflect sweetheart deals. Subsequent firm performance, such as future credit ratings or stock returns, improves following a connected deal, suggesting that social networks lead to either better information flow or better monitoring.

Keywords

Asymmetric informationbank lendingcost of debtsocial connectionslending outcomes

Tags of Social Finance

#Archival Empirical#Asset Pricing & Trading Volume and Market Efficiency#Investment Decisions (Institutional)#Manager & Firm Behavior#Social Network Structure