Essays on banking

The banking literature documents various roles for banks in financial systems. Banks are both ‘liquidity providers’ and ‘information producers’. Banks are especially important for small and medium-size enterprises and represent these firms' principal source of external finance. Hence, the banks’ role is relevant for the smooth functioning and growth of an economy as well. Moreover, when banks and firms enter into a relationship, they are able to overcome problems of asymmetric information and resolve incentive problems in the debt markets. The first three essays of the thesis focus on bank-firm relationships. Chapter 2 is a review of banks’ role in corporate governance of firms. Chapter 3 investigates the determinants of creditor concentration for German firms using a comprehensive bank-firm level dataset. Chapter 4 investigates the role of the decision factors, the decision process and the decision-maker that play a role in determining firm-bank relationships. The last chapter explores the banks’ side and the market discipline reflected in banks’ stock prices, and how the quality and timeliness of bank disclosure affect market reaction.