在銀行進行放款的過程中，經由審核、監督、流動性轉換等流程，銀行對借款人資訊會有進一步的認識及瞭解，而這些資訊並無法完全被其他金融機構或市場所知悉，故資訊上的好處可讓銀行與借款人間建立「借貸關係」。 許多實證文獻探討「借貸關係」，這些文獻均支持「借貸關係」對銀行和借款人具有價值。而本文則以理論模型推導的方式，研究「借貸關係」對放款契約的影響。本文發現，在「借貸關係」建立的過程中，「內部銀行」可瞭解借款人的品質及資訊，並透過這些內部的資訊，獲取「資訊獨佔力」帶來的好處。而透過銀行與借款人間「借貸關係」的維持，及銀行間的潛在競爭性，則可以舒緩銀行和借款人間「資訊獨佔」的扭曲效果。另外，內部資訊也能讓借款人得到利益，好的借款人可利用較低的利率融資，並獲得較高的放款額度；而壞的借款人則會漸被排除在市場之外。

This study will validate several key results from previous studies of bank loan announcement effects by using the data from Hong Kong market following the 1997 Asian crisis. Banks are believed to play a unique role in financial market which could effectively reduce the problem of information asymmetry and moral hazard. Banks could access borrowers’ inside information which is not available to other participants. Thus bank loan announcements convey valuable information to the market, and market response of the stock price should be positive. However, because of the significant reform in both financial market and information market, the valuation of bank loan announcement conveyed need to be reconsidered. This study investigates whether banks are still “unique” in the financial market or whether they are like middlemen between borrowers and investors. Data used in this study is collected from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Index, and a standard event study with the market model is applied in the research to conduct the empirical analysis. The results suggest bank loan announcements are associated with significantly higher positive abnormal returns than non-bank loan announcements. Based on the market model of event study, market response is found to be significantly positive for loan syndication, short maturity loan and borrower’s debt ratio, and negatively related to firm size and loan size. Bank loans with refinancing and capital expenditure and no specific purpose have significantly higher positive abnormal returns, and borrowers with property and industrial industry type have more significant positive abnormal returns compared to other industry type. The findings also suggest the Hong Kong stock market is efficient in both strong and semi-strong form for bank loan announcements. A strong evidence of information leakage problem is found for non-bank loan announcements. The results are generally consistent with the existing literature.

Even though the idea of microcredit is to stimulate entrepreneurial activities in developing countries, there is an ongoing debate whether this is achieved. Many argue that only providing credit is not enough and see a need for additional components in promoting entrepreneurial activities for the stimulation of economic growth. Moreover, the importance of including women in economic development is widely acknowledged. In Lao People's Democratic Republic where many women run their own businesses and a majority of microcredit borrowers are women, we aimed to examine the relation between microcredit and female entrepreneurship. This was accomplished by conducting semi-structured interviews with 13 Laotian female microcredit borrowers running businesses, as well as interviews with seven representatives from organizations related to microcredit and female entrepreneurship. To understand the female entrepreneurs and the environment in which they operate, we developed a model where factors related to the loan agreement, networking, motivation, gender division of labor and training were identified as important components in the context of Lao PDR. The results support the view that a credit only approach is not enough for the development of female entrepreneurship in Lao PDR.