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The Long-Term Relationship between Capital and Earnings in Banking: Sweden 1870–2001

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Contrary to received wisdom, two recent studies report a negative relation-ship between leverage and profitability in banking in the 1980s and early 1990s. This study presents new data on the leverage and profitability of Swedish commercial banks in 1870–2001, and explore the sign of the relation-ship in the long term. In the studied period, the capital-asset ratio decreased by a factor four, while return-on-equity more than doubled. The Leverage Formula postulates a positive linear relation between return-on-equity and the debt-equity ratio. A strong positive linear relationship was found over the period 1871–1980, but not in 1980–2001. Thus, while supporting the re-sults of the previous studies, a long-term “normal” positive relationship be-tween leverage and profitability is also reaffirmed.

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  • Hortlund, Per, 2005. "The Long-Term Relationship between Capital and Earnings in Banking: Sweden 1870–2001," Ratio Working Papers 63, The Ratio Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0063
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    1. Demirguc, Asli & Huizinga, Harry, 1999. "Determinants of Commercial Bank Interest Margins and Profitability: Some International Evidence," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 379-408, May.
    2. Berger, Allen N, 1995. "The Relationship between Capital and Earnings in Banking," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(2), pages 432-456, May.
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    4. Englund, Peter, 1999. "The Swedish Banking Crisis: Roots and Consequences," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 15(3), pages 80-97, Autumn.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    return-on-equity; leverage; bank capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N24 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: 1913-

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