Informal Financial Networks: Theory and Evidence
构建了非正式金融网络模型，并以美国商业地产市场中的房产经纪人为例，发现即使在美国发达的资本市场中，经纪人通过非正式关系显著提高了客户获得银行贷款的概率。
We develop a model of informal financial networks and present corroborating evidence by studying the role of property brokers in the U.S. commercial real estate market. Our model demonstrates that service intermediaries, who do not themselves supply loans, can facilitate their clients' access to finance through informal relationships with lenders. Empirically we find that, controlling for endogenous broker selection, hiring a broker strikingly increases the probability of obtaining bank finance. Our results demonstrate that even in the United States, with its well-developed capital markets, informal networks play an important role in controlling access to finance. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.