Abstract:
Although small firms are particularly sensitive to interest rates and other external shocks, empirical work on corporate risk management has focused instead on large public companies. This paper studies fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans to see how small firms manage their exposure to interest rate risk. Credit-constrained firms are found to match significantly more often with fixed-rate loans, consistent with prior research showing that the supply of internal and external finance shrinks during periods of rising interest rates. Banks originate a higher share of adjustable-rate loans than other lender types, ameliorating maturity mismatch and exposure to the lending channel of monetary policy. Time-series patterns in the share of fixed-rate commercial loans are consistent with recent evidence on debt market timing.