Lending is a central pillar of a modern economy and policy-makers are strongly interested in understanding its main drivers and associated risks. This project aims to identify new determinants of credit provision that extend beyond balance-sheet type frictions typically studied in the field of financial intermediation. For example, we aim to understand how market structure may affect the supply of credit and thereby the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy. We also examine how short-term shocks in the real economy may affect both the demand and supply of long-term credit, as well as the associated risks that this mechanism may generate. The work is empirical in nature and utilises micro-level data from a variety of international sources to identify causal relations that can directly inform the ever-evolving process of rule-making in bank regulation.