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Specialization in Banking

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  • Kristian Blickle
  • Cecilia Parlatore
  • Anthony Saunders

Abstract

Using supervisory data on the loan portfolios of large US banks, we document that these banks specialize by concentrating their lending disproportionately in a few industries. This specialization is consistent with banks having industry-specific knowledge, reflected in reduced risk of loan defaults, lower aggregate charge-offs, and higher propensity to lend to opaque firms in the preferred industry. Banks attract high-quality borrowers by offering generous loan terms in their specialized industry, especially to borrowers with alternative options. Banks focus on their preferred industry in times of instability and relatively lower tier 1 capital as well as after sudden surges in deposits.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristian Blickle & Cecilia Parlatore & Anthony Saunders, 2023. "Specialization in Banking," NBER Working Papers 31077, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31077
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    Cited by:

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    3. Bednarek, Peter & Dinger, Valeriya & Schultz, Alison & von Westernhagen, Natalja, 2023. "Banks of a feather: The informational advantage of being alike," Discussion Papers 09/2023, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    4. Müller, Isabella & Nguyen, Huyen & Nguyen, Trang, 2024. "Carbon transition risk and corporate loan securitization," IWH Discussion Papers 22/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2024.
    5. Iñaki Aldasoro & Sebastian Doerr & Haonan Zhou, 2023. "Non-bank lending during crises," BIS Working Papers 1074, Bank for International Settlements.
    6. Camelia Minoiu & Rebecca Zarutskie & Andrei Zlate, 2021. "Motivating Banks to Lend? Credit Spillover Effects of the Main Street Lending Program," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-078, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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