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Political uncertainty and bank loan contracting

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  • Francis, Bill B.
  • Hasan, Iftekhar
  • Zhu, Yun

Abstract

Given that political uncertainty greatly impacts firm level investment decisions, this paper examines whether and how political uncertainty influences a firm's cost of bank loans. We create a novel measurement of individual firm's exposure to political uncertainty and find that fluctuations in the political environment impose additional costs on the loan contract. Economically, a one standard deviation increase in a firm's idiosyncratic political exposure is related to 11.90 basis points of additional spreads. In addition, related lenders have an information advantage in pricing a borrower's future political exposure, while non-related lenders do not have such an advantage. On the supply side, lenders with higher political exposure also request additional loan spreads.

Suggested Citation

  • Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Zhu, Yun, 2014. "Political uncertainty and bank loan contracting," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 281-286.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:29:y:2014:i:c:p:281-286
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2014.08.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political uncertainty; Cost of capital; Bank loan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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