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Caught between Scylla and Charybdis? Regulating bank leverage when there is rent-seeking and risk-shifting

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  • Acharya, Viral V
  • Mehran, Hamid
  • Thakor, Anjan

Abstract

We consider a model in which banks face two moral hazard problems: 1) asset substitution by shareholders, which can occur when banks make socially-inefficient, risky loans; and 2) managerial under-provision of effort in loan monitoring. The privately-optimal level of bank leverage is neither too low nor too high: It efficiently balances the market discipline that owners of risky debt impose on managerial shirking in monitoring loans against the asset substitution induced at high levels of leverage. However, when correlated bank failures can impose significant social costs, regulators may bail out bank creditors. Anticipation of this action generates an equilibrium featuring systemic risk, in which all banks choose inefficiently high leverage to fund correlated, excessively risky assets. That is, regulatory forbearance itself becomes a source of systemic risk. Leverage can be reduced via a minimum equity capital requirement, which can rule out asset substitution. But this also compromises market discipline by making bank debt too safe. Optimal capital regulation requires that a part of bank capital be invested in safe assets and be attached with contingent distribution rights, in particular, be unavailable to creditors upon failure so as to retain market discipline and be made available to shareholders only contingent on good performance in order to contain risk-taking.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 8822.

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Date of creation: Feb 2012
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8822

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Keywords: asset substitution; bailout; market discipline; systemic risk;

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References

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  1. Hamid Mehran, 0. "Bank Capital and Value in the Cross-Section," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 1019-1067.
  2. Viral V. Acharya & Lasse H. Pedersen & Thomas Philippon & Matthew Richardson, 2010. "Measuring systemic risk," Working Paper 1002, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
  3. Acharya, Viral V & Yorulmazer, Tanju, 2004. "Too Many to Fail - An Analysis of Time Inconsistency in Bank Closure Policies," CEPR Discussion Papers 4778, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  4. George Pennacchi, 2010. "A structural model of contingent bank capital," Working Paper 1004, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
  5. Calomiris, Charles W & Kahn, Charles M, 1991. "The Role of Demandable Debt in Structuring Optimal Banking Arrangements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(3), pages 497-513, June.
  6. Viral V. Acharya & S. Viswanathan, 2011. "Leverage, Moral Hazard, and Liquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 99-138, 02.
  7. Bruno Biais & Catherine Casamatta, 1999. "Optimal Leverage and Aggregate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1291-1323, 08.
  8. Bhattacharya Sudipto & Thakor Anjan V., 1993. "Contemporary Banking Theory," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 2-50, October.
  9. Alex Edmans & Qi Liu, 2011. "Inside Debt," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 15(1), pages 75-102.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Yener Altunbas & Simone Manganelli & David Marques-Ibanez, 2012. "Bank Risk during the Financial Crisis: Do business models matter?," Working Papers 12003, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
  2. Yaron Leitner, 2012. "Contingent capital," Business Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, issue Q2, pages 11-18.
  3. Itai Agur & Maria Demertzis, 2010. "Monetary Policy and Excessive Bank Risk Taking," DNB Working Papers 271, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
  4. Hamid Mehran & Alan Morrison & Joel Shapiro, 2011. "Corporate governance and banks: what have we learned from the financial crisis?," Staff Reports 502, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
  5. Edmans, Alex, 2011. "Short-term termination without deterring long-term investment: A theory of debt and buyouts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 81-101, October.
  6. Itai Agur & Maria Demertzis, 2012. "Excessive bank risk taking and monetary policy," Working Paper Series 1457, European Central Bank.
  7. Arthur Petit-Romec, 2011. "L'intérêt d'un renforcement des fonds propres bancaires (et de mesures complémentaires) pour concilier stabilité financière, performance et bon fonctionnement des banques," Post-Print dumas-00643745, HAL.
  8. Itai Agur, 2011. "Bank Risk within and across Equilibria," DNB Working Papers 305, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
  9. Viral Acharya & Hamid Mehran & Til Schuermann & Anjan Thakor, 2012. "Robust capital regulation," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue May.
  10. Acharya, Viral V & Gujral, Irvind & Kulkarni, Nirupama & Shin, Hyun Song, 2012. "Dividends and Bank Capital in the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009," CEPR Discussion Papers 8801, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  11. Challe, E. & Mojon, B. & Ragot, X., 2012. "Equilibrium Risk Shifting and Interest Rate in an Opaque Financial System," Working papers 391, Banque de France.
  12. Panetti, Ettore, 2011. "Unobservable savings, risk sharing and default in the financial system," MPRA Paper 29542, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  13. Paolo Angelini & Stefano Neri & Fabio Panetta, 2011. "Monetary and macroprudential policies," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 801, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
  14. Admati, Anat R. & DeMarzo, Peter M. & Hellwig, Martin F. & Pfleiderer, Paul, 2010. "Fallacies, Irrelevant Facts, and Myths in the Discussion of Capital Regulation: Why Bank Equity Is Not Expensive," Research Papers 2065, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
  15. Sokolov, V., 2012. "The Impact of Central Bank Liquidity Infusions on Banks with High Level of Foreign Borrowing during the Crisis," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 51-78.

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