IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v91y2024icp1051-1063.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Centralized and decentralized lending: Implications of consolidation in the German banking industry

Author

Listed:
  • Lopomo Beteto Wegner, Danilo

Abstract

This paper addresses the implications of consolidation in the German banking industry regarding the operation of savings banks. Savings banks are one of the pillars of Germany’s banking system and the main providers of loans to small and medium firms that, in turn, are the predominant drivers of the economy. We develop a theoretical model showing that, by changing the organizational structure of savings banks from decentralized decision making (loan approval made by local officers) to centralized (loan approval at the headquarters), consolidation of the banking industry might lead financial institutions to ration credit in situations where such outcome would be unwarranted. The cause of this result is that delegated authority (decentralized structure) can make use of soft-information which otherwise would be neglected under a hierarchical arrangement (centralized structure).

Suggested Citation

  • Lopomo Beteto Wegner, Danilo, 2024. "Centralized and decentralized lending: Implications of consolidation in the German banking industry," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1051-1063.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:91:y:2024:i:c:p:1051-1063
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2024.01.031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056024000315
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2024.01.031?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans Degryse & Steven Ongena, 2005. "Distance, Lending Relationships, and Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 231-266, February.
    2. Canales, Rodrigo & Nanda, Ramana, 2012. "A darker side to decentralized banks: Market power and credit rationing in SME lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 353-366.
    3. Berger, Allen N. & Klapper, Leora F. & Udell, Gregory F., 2001. "The ability of banks to lend to informationally opaque small businesses," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2127-2167, December.
    4. Andreas Hackethal & Reinhard H. Schmidt & Marcel Tyrell, 2006. "The transformation of the German financial system," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 116(4), pages 431-456.
    5. Hans Degryse & Luc Laeven & Steven Ongena, 2009. "The Impact of Organizational Structure and Lending Technology on Banking Competition," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 13(2), pages 225-259.
    6. Dwenger, Nadja & Fossen, Frank & Simmler, Martin, 2015. "From financial to real economic crisis. Evidence from individual firm-bank relationships in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113000, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Greenbaum, Stuart I. & Kanatas, George & Venezia, Itzhak, 1989. "Equilibrium loan pricing under the bank-client relationship," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 221-235, May.
    8. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
    9. Degryse, Hans & Ongena, Steven, 2007. "The impact of competition on bank orientation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 399-424, July.
    10. M. Dewatripont & E. Maskin, 1995. "Credit and Efficiency in Centralized and Decentralized Economies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(4), pages 541-555.
    11. Arnoud W. A. Boot & Anjan V. Thakor, 2000. "Can Relationship Banking Survive Competition?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 679-713, April.
    12. Strahan, Philip E. & Weston, James P., 1998. "Small business lending and the changing structure of the banking industry1," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 821-845, August.
    13. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    14. Andrea Bellucci & Alexander Borisov & Alberto Zazzaro, 2016. "Bank Organization and Loan Contracting in Small Business Financing," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 118, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    15. von Thadden, Ernst-Ludwig, 2004. "Asymmetric information, bank lending and implicit contracts: the winner's curse," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 11-23, March.
    16. Allen N. Berger & Gregory F. Udell, 2002. "Small Business Credit Availability and Relationship Lending: The Importance of Bank Organisational Structure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(477), pages 32-53, February.
    17. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 1995. "The Effect of Credit Market Competition on Lending Relationships," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 407-443.
    18. Stijn Claessens & Luc Laeven, 2005. "Financial Dependence, Banking Sector Competition, and Economic Growth," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(1), pages 179-207, March.
    19. Elsas, Ralf, 2005. "Empirical determinants of relationship lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 32-57, January.
    20. repec:ner:ucllon:http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/17678/ is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Reinhard H. Schmidt, 2009. "The Political Debate about Savings Banks," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 61(4), pages 366-392, October.
    22. Cotugno, Matteo & Monferrà, Stefano & Sampagnaro, Gabriele, 2013. "Relationship lending, hierarchical distance and credit tightening: Evidence from the financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1372-1385.
    23. Sumit Agarwal, 2010. "Distance and Private Information in Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(7), pages 2757-2788, July.
    24. Nadja Dwenger & Frank M Fossen & Martin Simmler, 2015. "From financial to real economic crisis: evidence from individual firm¨Cbank relationships in Germany," Working Papers 1516, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    25. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. "Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-1400, September.
    26. Robert Hauswald & Robert Marquez, 2006. "Competition and Strategic Information Acquisition in Credit Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 967-1000.
    27. Inderst, Roman & Mueller, Holger M., 2007. "A lender-based theory of collateral," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 826-859, June.
    28. Sharpe, Steven A, 1990. "Asymmetric Information, Bank Lending, and Implicit Contracts: A Stylized Model of Customer Relationships," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1069-1087, September.
    29. Park, Albert & Shen, Minggao, 2008. "Refinancing and decentralization: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(3-4), pages 703-730, June.
    30. Allen, Franklin & Gale, Douglas, 1997. "Financial Markets, Intermediaries, and Intertemporal Smoothing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 523-546, June.
    31. Jose M. Liberti & Atif R. Mian, 2009. "Estimating the Effect of Hierarchies on Information Use," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(10), pages 4057-4090, October.
    32. Borio, Claudio, 2014. "The financial cycle and macroeconomics: What have we learnt?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 182-198.
    33. Jeremy C. Stein, 2002. "Information Production and Capital Allocation: Decentralized versus Hierarchical Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(5), pages 1891-1921, October.
    34. Boot, Arnoud W A & Thakor, Anjan V, 1994. "Moral Hazard and Secured Lending in an Infinitely Repeated Credit Market Game," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 35(4), pages 899-920, November.
    35. Hendrik Hakenes & Iftekhar Hasan & PhilIP Molyneux & Ru Xie, 2015. "Small Banks and Local Economic Development," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 19(2), pages 653-683.
    36. Boot, Arnoud W. A., 2000. "Relationship Banking: What Do We Know?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 7-25, January.
    37. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1994. "The Benefits of Lending Relationships: Evidence from Small Business Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-37, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cerqueiro, Geraldo & Degryse, Hans & Ongena, Steven, 2011. "Rules versus discretion in loan rate setting," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 503-529, October.
    2. Tlili, Rim, 2012. "Comment justifier la multibancarité au sein des PME ?," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/10919 edited by Etner, François.
    3. Djedidi-Kooli, Salima, 2009. "L’accès au financement des PME en France : quel rôle joué par la structure du système bancaire ?," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/8354 edited by Etner, François.
    4. Uchida, Hirofumi & Udell, Gregory F. & Yamori, Nobuyoshi, 2012. "Loan officers and relationship lending to SMEs," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 97-122.
    5. Kano, Masaji & Uchida, Hirofumi & Udell, Gregory F. & Watanabe, Wako, 2011. "Information verifiability, bank organization, bank competition and bank-borrower relationships," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 935-954, April.
    6. Florian Leon, 2015. "What do we know about the role of bank competition in Africa?," CERDI Working papers halshs-01164864, HAL.
    7. Presbitero, Andrea F. & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2011. "Competition and relationship lending: Friends or foes?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 387-413, July.
    8. Doris Neuberger & Solvig Räthke, 2009. "Microenterprises and multiple bank relationships: The case of professionals," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 207-229, February.
    9. Ogura, Yoshiaki, 2012. "Lending competition and credit availability for new firms: Empirical study with the price cost margin in regional loan markets," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1822-1838.
    10. Thorsten Beck & Vasso Ioannidou & Larissa Schäfer, 2018. "Foreigners vs. Natives: Bank Lending Technologies and Loan Pricing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(8), pages 3792-3820, August.
    11. Hasan, Iftekhar & Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Jagiełło, Robert & Kowalewski, Oskar & Kozłowski, Łukasz, 2021. "Local banks as difficult-to-replace SME lenders: Evidence from bank corrective programs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    12. Luca Papi & Emma Sarno & Alberto Zazzaro, 2017. "The geographical network of bank organizations: issues and evidence for Italy," Chapters, in: Ron Martin & Jane Pollard (ed.), Handbook on the Geographies of Money and Finance, chapter 8, pages 156-196, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Norden, L., 2015. "The Role of Banks in SME Finance," ERIM Inaugural Address Series Research in Management EIA-2015-062-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam..
    14. Ghosh, Chinmoy & He, Fan, 2023. "The impact of laws and institutions on financial contracts: Evidence from relationship lending across the world," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    15. Kirschenmann, K., 2010. "The Dynamics in Requested and Granted Loan Terms when Bank and Borrower Interact Repeatedly," Other publications TiSEM 40d5005c-1626-4511-aa8a-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Pietro Alessandrini & Andrea Filippo Presbitero & Alberto Zazzaro, 2008. "Global Banking and Local Markets," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 4, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    17. Reto Wernli & Andreas Dietrich, 2022. "Only the brave: improving self-rationing efficiency among discouraged Swiss SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 977-1003, October.
    18. Degryse, Hans & Ongena, Steven, 2007. "The impact of competition on bank orientation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 399-424, July.
    19. Boot, Arnoud & Hoffmann, Peter & Laeven, Luc & Ratnovski, Lev, 2021. "Fintech: what’s old, what’s new?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    20. Beatriz, Mikael & Coffinet, Jérôme & Nicolas, Théo, 2022. "Relationship lending and SMEs’ funding costs over the cycle: Why diversification of borrowing matters," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bank structure; Savings banks; Soft-information;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:91:y:2024:i:c:p:1051-1063. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.