Banks, credit supply, and the life cycle of firms: Evidence from late nineteenth century Japan
利用日本历史中的外生债券冲击和新构建的企业家谱数据，研究发现银行资本增加会缩短企业寿命，资本充裕地区企业创建和消亡更频繁，制造业影响更显著，服务业则不同。
How does local credit supply affect economic dynamism? Using an exogenous bond shock in historical Japan and new genealogical firm-level data, we empirically examine the effects of credit availability on firm life cycles. We find that the lifespan of firms decreases with bank capital and that capital-abundant regions have more firm creation and destruction. These effects are amplified for manufacturing, while service sector firms experience no change in longevity and have less creation. Our results suggest that samurai bonds were conducive to the emergence of banking, which eased firms’ financial constraints and led to more capital-intensive investment and economic dynamism.