DEBT CONCENTRATION AND BARGAINING POWER: LARGE BANKS, SMALL BANKS, AND SECONDARY MARKET PRICES

Commercial bank debts of developing countries are held by large international banks and smaller domestic banks. This paper investigates how debt concentration--the proportion of a country's debt held by large banks relative to small banks--affects the secondary market price for these loans. We find that countries with higher concentrations have higher secondary-market prices. We explain this empirical finding in a bargaining model that endogenizes the maximum penalty that banks can credibly impose on a recalcitrant debtor. We show that the banks' bargaining power increases with the degree of debt concentration, thus increasing repayment and secondary-market prices.