Credit scoring e organizzazione dell'attività di prestito delle banche: una rassegna della letteratura

In the review we consider how the introduction of credit scoring techniques for the evaluation of risk related to loans can affect the lending activity by banks. Not only we analyze the relevant contributions, both theoretical and empirical, concerning the above issue, but also we try to point out questions still not addressed by the literature. For instance, while a microeconomic approach can highlight the trade-off that characterize the choice between decentralization and centralization in lending procedures, still it is unclear how the introduction of credit scoring can affect those trade-offs. In particular, scores could be used both as strategic complements and as strategic substitutes with respect to other types of qualitative or soft information that is usually more easily gathered by the local branches, through their repeated interactions with firms. Finally, we emphasize that while most empirical studies are concerned with the organization of the lending activity within a single bank, an assessment of the systemic impact of credit scoring has not been fully performed yet.