• Download as CSVThe value of hard business credit information fully mirrors the results for the previous regression models, in which we included all four attributes of business credit information (columns (1) and (2)). Put differently, the hard business credit information is the key factor that drives our previous results. This finding has an interesting parallel to the recent research on sources of private information in banking (e.g., Mester et al., 2007 and Norden and Weber, 2010). Related studies document that proprietary information on credit line usage and checking account activity help banks better predict borrower defaults and manage their credit relationships with firms. Norden and Weber (2010) show that these benefits are most pronounced in the case of SMEs and individuals but rather weak for large firms. That result is consistent with our finding on the importance of hard business credit information, which initially was private information of the firm, its supplier, and their banks before it was shared with others through the credit bureau. We find a positive impact of FIRMS_PER_EMPLOYEE on the value of hard business credit information in model (2).