Thesis: This dissertation explores credit risk at the corporate level, with respect to corporate ownership structures, gender of the corporate owner and how bank executives were incentivized to allocate credit in the run up to the Great Financial Crisis. It compares credit risk associated with funding of business groups versus stand alone firms. It tests whether leverage, firm profitability and probability of default at the firm level can be attributed to the gender of the firm leadership. Lastly, it provides a detailed account of how bank executives in the Icelandic banks were incentivized to allocate credit during a rapid credit growth episode leading up to the failure of the banks.