IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jns/jbstat/v221y2001i5-6p491-529.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Empirical Investigation of German Firms’ Financial Structure and Ensuing Risks / Finanzierungsstruktur und Risiken im Unternehmenssektor der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme

Author

Listed:
  • Größl Ingrid

    (Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Politik, Von-Melle-Park 9, D-20146 Hamburg)

  • Stahlecker Peter

    (Universität Hamburg, Institut für Statistik und Ökonometrie, Von- Melle-Park 5, D-20146 Hamburg)

  • Wohlers Eckhardt

    (HWWA - Hamburg Institute of International Economics, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, D-20347 Hamburg)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the question whether West German firms have experienced an increase in their financial risk position with due implications for the macroeconomy. The investigation is based on a special evaluation of the balance sheet statistics by the Deutsche Bundesbank broken down into firm size and legal form. Empirical findings suggest that owing to positive trends of various financial ratios, above all small and medium sized firms have been exposed to significantly higher risks in the time period 1987-1996. Further tests reveal that for this firms’ size investment and financial risk are negatively correlated. Considering the macroeconomic significance of small and medium sized enterprises, these empirical findings bear serious risks for growth, employment and the effectiveness of monetary policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Größl Ingrid & Stahlecker Peter & Wohlers Eckhardt, 2001. "An Empirical Investigation of German Firms’ Financial Structure and Ensuing Risks / Finanzierungsstruktur und Risiken im Unternehmenssektor der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Eine empirische Bestandsaufn," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 221(5-6), pages 491-529, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:221:y:2001:i:5-6:p:491-529
    DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2001-5-605
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2001-5-605
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/jbnst-2001-5-605?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Gertler & Simon Gilchrist, 1994. "Monetary Policy, Business Cycles, and the Behavior of Small Manufacturing Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(2), pages 309-340.
    2. Hjalmar Böhm & Michael Funke & Nikolaus A. Siegfried, 1999. "Discovering the Link between Uncertainty and Investment - Microeconometric Evidence from Germany," Quantitative Macroeconomics Working Papers 19906, Hamburg University, Department of Economics.
    3. 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.
    4. Elsas, Ralf & Krahnen, Jan Pieter, 1998. "Is relationship lending special? Evidence from credit-file data in Germany," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(10-11), pages 1283-1316, October.
    5. Fishburn, Peter C, 1977. "Mean-Risk Analysis with Risk Associated with Below-Target Returns," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(2), pages 116-126, March.
    6. Bernanke, Ben & Gertler, Mark & Gilchrist, Simon, 1996. "The Financial Accelerator and the Flight to Quality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(1), pages 1-15, February.
    7. Peek, Joe & Rosengren, Eric S., 1998. "Bank consolidation and small business lending: It's not just bank size that matters," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 799-819, August.
    8. Calomiris, Charles W & Hubbard, R Glenn, 1990. "Firm Heterogeneity, Internal Finance, and 'Credit Rationing.'," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(399), pages 90-104, March.
    9. 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.
    10. Blinder, Alan S, 1987. "Credit Rationing and Effective Supply Failures," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(386), pages 327-352, June.
    11. Harhoff, Dietmar & Korting, Timm, 1998. "Lending relationships in Germany - Empirical evidence from survey data," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(10-11), pages 1317-1353, October.
    12. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    13. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    14. Machauer, Achim & Weber, Martin, 1998. "Bank behavior based on internal credit ratings of borrowers," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(10-11), pages 1355-1383, October.
    15. Berger, Allen N & Udell, Gregory F, 1995. "Relationship Lending and Lines of Credit in Small Firm Finance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(3), pages 351-381, July.
    16. Fazzari, Steven M & Athey, Michael J, 1987. "Asymmetric Information, Financing Constraints, and Investment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(3), pages 481-487, August.
    17. Ben S. Bernanke & Mark Gertler, 1995. "Inside the Black Box: The Credit Channel of Monetary Policy Transmission," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 27-48, Fall.
    18. Hoshi, Takeo & Kashyap, Anil & Scharfstein, David, 1990. "The role of banks in reducing the costs of financial distress in Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-88, September.
    19. Bernanke, Ben & Gertler, Mark, 1989. "Agency Costs, Net Worth, and Business Fluctuations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 14-31, March.
    20. Edwards, Jeremy, 1991. "Banks, Finance and Investment in West Germany since 1970," CEPR Discussion Papers 497, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Stephen Bond & Costas Meghir, 1994. "Dynamic Investment Models and the Firm's Financial Policy," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(2), pages 197-222.
    22. Harhoff, Dietmar & Körting, Timm, 1998. "Lending Relationships in Germany: Empirical Results from Survey Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 1917, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    23. Charles W. Calomiris & Athanasios Orphanides & Steven A. Sharpe, 1994. "Leverage as a state variable for employment, inventory accumulation, and fixed investment," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 94-24, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    24. Wohlers, Eckhardt & Größl, Ingrid & Stahlecker, Peter, 1999. "Finanzierungsstruktur und Risiken im Unternehmenssektor der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme," HWWA Discussion Papers 83, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
    25. 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.
    26. Lubig, Joachim, 1998. "Vermögensbildung in Arbeitnehmerhand durch Tariffonds: eine branchenspezifische Analyse," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 1314, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    27. 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.
    28. Xiaoqiang Hu & Fabio Schiantarelli, 1998. "Investment And Capital Market Imperfections: A Switching Regression Approach Using U.S. Firm Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(3), pages 466-479, August.
    29. Grossl, Ingrid & Stahlecker, Peter & Wohlers, Eckhardt, 1999. "Finanzierungsstruktur und Risiken im Unternehmenssektor der Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme," Discussion Paper Series 26235, Hamburg Institute of International Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hauenschild, Nils & Stahlecker, Peter, 2004. "Loan financing, bankruptcy, and optimal supply," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 115-140.
    2. Ingrid Groessl & Nadine Levratto, 2004. "Problems of Evaluating Small Firms’ Quality as a Reason for Unfavourable Loan Conditions," Finance 0406014, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Grossl, Ingrid & Stahlecker, Peter & Wohlers, Eckhardt, 1999. "Finanzierungsstruktur und Risiken im Unternehmenssektor der Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme," Discussion Paper Series 26235, Hamburg Institute of International Economics.
    2. Wohlers, Eckhardt & Größl, Ingrid & Stahlecker, Peter, 1999. "Finanzierungsstruktur und Risiken im Unternehmenssektor der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme," HWWA Discussion Papers 83, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
    3. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2009_036 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Annalisa Castelli & Gerald P. Dwyer & Iftekhar Hasan, 2012. "Bank Relationships and Firms' Financial Performance: The Italian Experience," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 18(1), pages 28-67, January.
    5. Annalisa Castelli & Gerald P. Dwyer & Iftekhar Hasan, 2012. "Bank Relationships and Firms' Financial Performance: The Italian Experience," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 18(1), pages 28-67, January.
    6. Berger, Allen N. & Espinosa-Vega, Marco A. & Frame, W. Scott & Miller, Nathan H., 2011. "Why do borrowers pledge collateral? New empirical evidence on the role of asymmetric information," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 55-70, January.
    7. Menkhoff, Lukas & Neuberger, Doris & Suwanaporn, Chodechai, 2006. "Collateral-based lending in emerging markets: Evidence from Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Berger, Allen N. & Scott Frame, W. & Ioannidou, Vasso, 2011. "Tests of ex ante versus ex post theories of collateral using private and public information," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 85-97, April.
    9. Annalisa Castelli & Gerald P. Dwyer & Iftekhar Hasan, 2006. "Bank relationships and small firms’ financial performance," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2006-05, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    10. Lehmann, Erik & Neuberger, Doris, 2001. "Do lending relationships matter?: Evidence from bank survey data in Germany," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 339-359, August.
    11. 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.
    12. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    13. 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.
    14. Ginés Hernández-Cánovas & Pedro Martínez-Solano, 2007. "Effect of the Number of Banking Relationships on Credit Availability: Evidence from Panel Data of Spanish Small Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 37-53, January.
    15. Jarko Fidrmuc & Philipp Schreiber & Martin Siddiqui, 2018. "Intangible Assets and the Determinants of a Single Bank Relation of German SMEs," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 5-30.
    16. Bodenhorn, Howard, 2003. "Short-Term Loans and Long-Term Relationships: Relationship Lending in Early America," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(4), pages 485-505, August.
    17. Antje Brunner & Jan Pieter Krahnen, 2013. "Hold-up in multiple banking: evidence from SME lending," International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(1/2), pages 78-101.
    18. Loukil Sahar & Jarboui Anis, 2016. "Loan officers and soft information production," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1199521-119, December.
    19. 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.
    20. Degryse, Hans & Van Cayseele, Patrick, 2000. "Relationship Lending within a Bank-Based System: Evidence from European Small Business Data," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 90-109, January.
    21. Suvadee Rungsomboon, 2005. "Deterioration of Firm Balance Sheet and Investment Behavior: Evidence from Panel Data on Thai Firms," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 335-356, September.

    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:jns:jbstat:v:221:y:2001:i:5-6:p:491-529. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    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.