2023 John W. Ryan Award Winner Announced

The Community Banking Research Conference research committee is pleased to announce the selection of “Regulatory Risk Perception and Small Business Lending” as the paper chosen for the "John W. Ryan Award for Most Significant Contribution to Community Banking Research" as part of the 2023 Community Banking Research Conference.

The authors of the winning paper are: 

•  Siddharth Vij, University of Georgia
• Joseph Kalmenovitz, University of Rochester

Here are summary of key findings from the paper: 

Using Small Business Administration (SBA) data, the authors examine how the perception of risk by regulators affects the ability of small businesses to obtain access to credit. They find that SBA loans and job creation are reduced at the new location when SBA employees transfer from offices with more current defaults on SBA loans. This effect is independent of local economic conditions and the informational content of the nonlocal defaults. They conclude that  misperception of economic conditions by regulators has a measurable effect on access to credit.

(photo: CSBS President and CEO Jim Cooper delivers award to Siddarth Vij.)