Bank-Firm Relationship and Small Business Innovation

This paper empirically investigates the effect of banks' soft information on small business innovations. Using data from a sample of Japanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs), we find that multiple banking prevails. Moreover, besides the main bank, the sub bank also acquires soft information for a number of multiple banking firms. Nonetheless, there coexists no bank information: the main bank's information monopoly and multiple bank information competition. Importantly, such information competition in multiple banking is positively related to both product and process innovation while the main bank's information monopoly has no significant effects on innovation. Also, we offer additional consistent evidence that information competition decreases the likelihood of worsening of the lending attitude of the main bank during the financial crisis. For single banking firms, bank information monopolies have a negative effect on product and process innovation.