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...

Recently, several platforms for arranging credit mediation between borrowers and lenders without usage of a financial intermediary have emerged. Social lending has attracted the interest of researchers who analyzed the behavior of borrowers and lenders on these platforms. The authors examine the impact of pre-made text modules and usage of peer groups on the funding success of a credit request....

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) very often have been criticized for announcing inaccurate credit ratings and are suspected of being exposed to con‡icts of interest. Despite these objections CRAs remained largely unregulated. Based on Pagano & Immordino (2007), we study the optimal regulation of CRAs in a model where rating quality is unobservable and enforcing regulation is costly. The model show...