Differentiated use of small business credit scoring by relationship lenders and transactional lenders: Evidence from firm–bank matched data in Japan

Abstract

This paper examines the ex-post performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that obtained small business credit scoring (SBCS) loans, using a unique Japanese firm–bank matched dataset. The ex-post probability of default after the SBCS loan was provided significantly increased for SMEs that obtained an SBCS loan from a transactional lender. Also, the lending attitude of relationship lenders during the recent global financial crisis was more severe if a firm had received an SBCS loan from a transactional lender. These findings suggest that SBCS loans by transactional lenders are more prone to type II errors and detrimental to relationship lenders’ incentive to provide “liquidity insurance.”