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This study examines agricultural lending by commercial banks and the competition they face from the Farm Credit System (FCS) and non-traditional lenders, including merchants, dealers and other input suppliers.

We construct a measure of commercial banks' perceived competition with FCS or non-traditional lenders using the individual responses to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Land Values and Credit Conditions Survey between 1999 and 2019. Through regression analysis of an unbalanced panel of survey responses, we present a number of stylized facts on the relationship between perceived competition and farm loan rate spreads, collateral requirements, loan delinquencies and expected lending volumes.

Our analysis shows that the two sources of competition have very different effects on commercial bank lending terms, loan portfolio riskiness and expected loan volumes. With these results in mind, we offer a number of suggestions for future research.

We leverage the unique characteristics of the Land Values and Credit Conditions Survey to examine the competition with non-traditional lenders that cannot be observed using administrative data.

This paper aims to estimate the cost to US savings banks and savings and loan institutions with assets under $250 million of complying with the anti‐redlining Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

Compliance cost is modeled as a type of inefficiency because the lending institution is required to favor higher cost borrowers whom it might otherwise choose to avoid. Inefficiency is estimated using a special form of regression with a two‐part error term that contains an inefficiency parameter.

The 1995 statutory changes designed to lessen the cost of CRA compliance are apparently more than offset by the increased enforcement efforts of the Clinton Administration, which was hostile to deregulation enacted by Congress. For the vast majority of small thrifts, annual compliance costs grew by $251,000 following “deregulation,” and for a small number of “Outstanding” (in meeting the goals of the Act) institutions, CRA‐related costs grew by $539,000. These increases represent a rise of about 3.5 and 6 percent of operating expenses, respectively.

Given the wide latitude afforded financial regulators in the USA legislative changes regarded as “deregulation” also require a sympathetic and supportive administration to be realized.

The paper offers insights into how increased enforcement can offset statutory deregulation, focusing on the case of the Community Reinvestment Act.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if access to local branch infrastructure of the farm credit system institutions (FCS), banks and credit unions (BCU), and alternative financial services (AFS) providers is related to the use of credit from non-traditional lenders (NTLs). The focus is on beginning and women operators who are typically credit constrained and thus more likely to suffer from closures of bank branches and consolidation of traditional agricultural lenders.

Informed by Detragiache et al. (2000), the authors specify farmers’ use of loans as a function of their access to credit (measured by the branch density of each lender type) along with operator’s and operation’s controls. The measures of loans by NTLs (number, use, share and lender type) require the use of Poisson, Probit, Tobit and Multinomial Logit techniques. This study utilizes individual producer data from the 2018 Agricultural Resource Management Survey and 2018 county-level branch density data for FCS, BCU and AFS providers.

Access to credit from FCS is helpful to BFRs only, while access to AFS is associated with the use of loans from NTLs by women but not by BFRs. As expected, access to BCU credit matters for the use of loans from NTLs, with a complementary effect for BFRs but a substitution effect for women’s use of such loans.

There are no studies on local agricultural credit markets in the US that evaluate the implications from changes in access to credit on credit-constrained borrowers and their use of NTLs’ credit.

The safety and soundness of financial institutions has become a leading worldwide issue because of the recent global financial crisis. Historically, financial crises have occurred approximately every 20 years. The worst financial crisis in the last 75 years occurred in 2008–2009. US regulatory efforts with respect to capital reserve requirements are likely to have several unintended consequences for the agricultural lending sector—especially for smaller, less-diversified (and often, rural agricultural) lenders. The paper discusses these issues.

Simulation models and value-at-risk (VaR) criteria are used to evaluate the impact of capital reserve requirements on lending return on equity. In addition, simulations are used to calculate the effects of loan numbers and portfolio diversification on capital reserve requirements.

This paper illustrates that increasing capital reserve requirements reduces lending return on equity. Furthermore, increases in the number of loans and portfolio diversification reduce capital reserve requirements.

The simulation methods are a simplification of complex lending practices and VaR calculations. Lenders use these and other procedures for managing capital reserves than those modeled in this paper.

Smaller lending institutions will be pressured to increase loan sector diversification. In addition, traditional agricultural lenders will likely be under increased pressure to diversify portfolios. Because agricultural loan losses have relatively low correlations with other sectors, traditional agricultural lenders can expect increased competition for agricultural loans from non-traditional agricultural lenders.

This paper is novel in that the authors illustrate how lender capital requirements change in response to loan payment correlations both within and across lending sectors.

Nontraditional lenders are important credit providers for farmers. However, previous research has found that farmers who use nontraditional lenders are riskier lending opportunities. Using a unique dataset of Chapter 12 bankruptcy cases, the authors analyze the share of payment that is made or allowed by the courts on debt owed to traditional and nontraditional lenders.

The authors use a Tobit model to calculate parameter estimates and marginal effects of the impact of creditor type (traditional/nontraditional) and debt classification (secured, priority and unsecured) on the proportion of a bankruptcy claim that lenders receive or are expected to receive when a case is discharged.

The authors find that traditional lenders with secured debt receive a greater repayment than nontraditional lenders. Meanwhile, there are more than twice the number of nontraditional lenders that are owed debt in these bankruptcy claims. While this raises concern for nontraditional lenders, that is mitigated some by the level of debt that is on average about one-sixth the size of the average debt of traditional lenders. Finally, the authors show there are numerous opportunities for future research in this area using case level bankruptcy data.

This paper fills a research gap by focusing on the state of nontraditional lenders in Chapter 12 bankruptcy cases and their treatment in discharged cases.

This article reviews the development and future of the Farm Credit System (FCS) as a government sponsored source of credit for American agriculture. While agriculture is now a minor sector of the U.S. economy, and there is considerable competition for the FCS from other lenders suggesting no further need for GSE status, it still may be possible to argue that there is some ongoing need. Although credit market imperfections are no longer as clear cut as in the past, they may still act as an impediment to a desirable allocation of capital. Consequently, refocusing the FCS may provide a relatively efficient form of government intervention that can enhance capital flows in rural areas.

An established paradigm in small business lending is segmented by bank size with large banks more likely to lend to large informationally transparent firms while small banks are more likely to lend to small informationally opaque firms. In light of banking consolidation, this market segmentation can have implications for credit availability. Federal loan guarantees, such as those provided by USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) may reduce the risks of lending to informationally opaque firms thereby mitigating the impacts of the bank size lending paradigm. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

This analysis utilized a binomial logit procedure to determine if there was any empirical evidence that smaller community banks served a unique clientele of farmers when making FSA-guaranteed loans. The analysis relied on a unique data set which incorporated detailed data on farm businesses receiving FSA-guaranteed loans, loan characteristics, as well as information about the originating bank and characteristics of the local credit markets.

Results were consistent with the bank size lending paradigm with smaller banks being less likely to engage in fixed-asset lending, and more likely to serve a riskier and less established clientele when making guaranteed loans.

Data limitations did not permit detailed analysis of banks larger than $250 million in total assets nor for consideration of non-bank lenders. An expansion by these lender groups into serving more informationally opaque borrowers could mitigate any adverse impacts arising from fewer small community banks.

The results suggested that Federal guarantees do not completely eliminate the relative informational advantages of large and small size banks. And, continued bank consolidation, such that there are fewer small community banks, could result in less credit availability among smaller, less creditworthy farm businesses.

While FSA guarantees may not enhance a large banks propensity to serve informationally opaque farm borrowers, they may enhance the ability of smaller community banks to serve groups specifically targeted through FSA lending programs; the provision of credit to family farmers who, despite being creditworthy, are unable to obtain credit at reasonable rates and terms.

The analysis examines relationship between bank size and the use of FSA guarantees using a unique data set which incorporated information on FSA-guaranteed loans, farm financial characteristics, along with characteristics of commercial banks which participated in the FSA-guarantee program.

This research chapter argues lawyers, not just bankers, for good and bad have been involved in all aspects of the current financial crisis. Indeed after examining and assessing various civil causes of action related to the “Mortgage Meltdown” and its aftermath, it appears if lawyers had been less involved or had raised warnings about legal risks as well as economic ones, whether the financial impact would have been so disastrous and widespread. Indeed by raising cautionary flags earlier, lawyers might have better served both the clients’ and the public's long-term interests. This view thus complements issues related to criminally prosecuting mortgage fraud that has also seen explosive growth and where lawyers have again played central roles. Lawyers have been involved at the back end too in terms of legislation or resolving issues such as bankruptcies and foreclosures.

The chapter examines several causes of action the media have reported being raised by various parties and how they illustrate the role lawyers, regulations, and legislation have played in the origins and evolution of the current crisis. The cases explored involve individual parties and class actions. The chapter also analyzes in detail a case representing opposite ends of the origination and foreclosure closure spectrum by describing a derivative shareholder suit against corporate officers and directors actively involved in creating the subprime mess, who were then sued for covering up the inevitable results from failed loans in the reports to shareholders. It thus illustrates the legal complexities emerging from the abuse of complex financial and organizational structures impacting many investors. Finally the chapter concludes by arguing there is a public policy need not only for financial regulatory reform but also for a tightening in the professional standards and regulatory penalties imposed on lawyers involved in such transactions.

This paper aims to analyse trends related to hotel investment in Canada and propose innovative practices for the financial management of hotels.

The foundation for this paper was laid during a well‐attended Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) roundtable discussion between industry leaders and hospitality educators in May 2012. Topics of hotel investment and financial management in Canada are discussed in the context of the theme for the 2012 Canadian WHATT roundtable and the strategic question: “What innovations are needed in the Canadian hotel industry and how might they be implemented to secure the industry's future?”

The paper outlines historic hotel investment patterns dating back to the 1980s and analyses the current investment climate. Out of 850 hotels sold in Canada during the first decade of this millennium, foreign investor participation was less than 10 per cent. Currently the foreign interest in hotel investment in Canada is increasing and hotel assets in the 100‐175‐room range are more popular.

The paper presents three innovative practical tools for strong financial management of hotels to optimise ROIs – profit sensitivity analysis, strategic revenue management and embracing historical low interest rates.

Although Canada has done well weathering the global financial storm, Canadian hoteliers should exercise due diligence in financial management. As the team of authors represents both the industry and academia, this paper will be of immense value to students, researchers, and educators, as well as practitioners.