Essays on corporate funding and bank lending relationships

Abstract

This dissertation comprises three essays on the corporate sector and its relationships with banking institutions, exploring detailed micro databases. The first Chapter explores the relevance of information underlying working capital and turnover indicators on the probability of default on a bank loan. The second Chapter investigates the main determinants of corporate funding. In addition to bank and trade credit, the analysis also sheds light on loans granted by shareholders or intra-group operations, and tax liabilities. The third Chapter explores firms' decisions on investment and employment through the vulnerability of their lenders to financial market developments, in the context of the euro area sovereign debt crisis.