Enduring lending relationships and european firms default

This paper investigates the link between close banking relationships and European manufacturing firms’ defaults. Based on binary outcomes (i.e., Logit, Probit, Complementary log-log) and discrete-time models, the empirical analysis reveals that enduring lending relationships present benefits in reducing firms’ temporary and permanent defaults. This evidence suggests that, in a framework of limited credit access that may compromise firms’ survival, relationship lending might represent an effective tool for overcoming asymmetric information problems, helping firms relax credit constraints, encouraging greater discipline in their managers, and preventing failure.