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Recent empirical findings by Elsas (2005) and Degryse and Ongena (2007) document a U-shaped effect of market concentration on relationship lending which cannot be easily accommodated by the investment and strategic theories of relationship lending. In this paper, we suggest that this non-monotonicity can be explained by looking at the organizational structure of local credit markets. We provide evidence that marginal increases in interbank competition are detrimental to relationship lending in markets where large and out-of-market banks are predominant. On the contrary, where relational-based lending technologies are al-ready widely in use in the market by a large group of small mutual banks, an increase in competition may drive banks to further cultivate their extensive ties with customers.

Cover; Contents; 1 Introduction; 2 Data and Descriptive Analysis; 2.1 Sample; 2.2 Variable Construction and Sources; 2.3 Variable Transformation; 2.4 Event Analysis; 3 Empirical Model and Implementation; 4 Results and Discussion; 4.1 Main results; 4.2 Goodness of Fit; 4.3 Robustness of the Baseline; 4.4 The Role of Leverage; 4.5 Capital Inflows Bonanza; 4.6 Cross-Sectional Heterogeneity; 5 Concluding Remarks; A: Data Sources and Sample Makeup; B: Additional Figures; C: Additional Regression Results.

Due to deregulation and financial liberalization, Latin American countries have recently undertaken bank restructuring and consolidation processes. This paper investigates firm access to credit in the region, focusing on the role of the credit market structure. Through an empirical investigation based on the World Bank Enterprise Survey, we find that access to bank credit is very heterogeneous. On average, smaller and less productive firms are less likely to apply for credit and more likely to be financially constrained. Besides, a high degree of bank penetration and competition is significantly correlated with a lower probability that borrowers are financially constrained. Finally, foreign banks penetration has a negative effect on access to credit particularly in less developed and more concentrated markets, while it has a positive influence in more competitive and financially developed markets.