IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v65y2025i3p2487-2516.html

Negative interest rates, bank capital and lending behaviours

Author

Listed:
  • Zixuan Dai
  • Lei Xu

Abstract

We examine the impact of negative interest rate policies (NIRP) on the link between the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and bank lending behaviours. Through a sample from 29 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, we find that NIRP improves the marginal effect of CAR on bank lending. Mortgage and corporate loans can both benefit from the building up of CAR after NIRP. Nevertheless, NIRP adversely affects CAR's marginal effect on the lending behaviours of global systemically important banks (G‐SIBs). Moreover, the influence of NIRP is heterogeneous depending on bank‐specific characteristics such as size and capital level.

Suggested Citation

  • Zixuan Dai & Lei Xu, 2025. "Negative interest rates, bank capital and lending behaviours," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(3), pages 2487-2516, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:65:y:2025:i:3:p:2487-2516
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.70004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.70004
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.70004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    2. Degryse, Hans & Mariathasan, Mike & Tang, Hien T., 2023. "GSIB status and corporate lending," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Florian Heider & Farzad Saidi & Glenn Schepens, 2019. "Life below Zero: Bank Lending under Negative Policy Rates," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(10), pages 3728-3761.
    4. Jeff L. McMullin & Bryce Schonberger, 2020. "Entropy-balanced accruals," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 84-119, March.
    5. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Hsieh, Meng-Fen, 2013. "The impact of bank capital on profitability and risk in Asian banking," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 251-281.
    6. Kishan, Ruby P & Opiela, Timothy P, 2000. "Bank Size, Bank Capital, and the Bank Lending Channel," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(1), pages 121-141, February.
    7. Gambacorta, Leonardo & Mistrulli, Paolo Emilio, 2004. "Does bank capital affect lending behavior?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 436-457, October.
    8. Saleem Bahaj & Frederic Malherbe, 2020. "The Forced Safety Effect: How Higher Capital Requirements Can Increase Bank Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(6), pages 3013-3053, December.
    9. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    10. Berger, Allen N. & Udell, Gregory F., 2004. "The institutional memory hypothesis and the procyclicality of bank lending behavior," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 458-495, October.
    11. Behn, Markus & Schramm, Alexander, 2021. "The impact of G-SIB identification on bank lending: Evidence from syndicated loans," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    12. Maudos, Joaquín & Solís, Liliana, 2009. "The determinants of net interest income in the Mexican banking system: An integrated model," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1920-1931, October.
    13. Brei, Michael & Schclarek, Alfredo, 2013. "Public bank lending in times of crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 820-830.
    14. Myoung-jae Lee, 2016. "Generalized Difference in Differences With Panel Data and Least Squares Estimator," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 45(1), pages 134-157, February.
    15. Abdul Karim, Mastura & Hassan, M. Kabir & Hassan, Taufiq & Mohamad, Shamsher, 2014. "Capital adequacy and lending and deposit behaviors of conventional and Islamic banks," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 58-75.
    16. Markus Behn & Rainer Haselmann & Paul Wachtel, 2016. "Procyclical Capital Regulation and Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(2), pages 919-956, April.
    17. Christina D. Romer & David H. Romer, 2004. "A New Measure of Monetary Shocks: Derivation and Implications," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1055-1084, September.
    18. Schelling, Tan & Towbin, Pascal, 2022. "What lies beneath—Negative interest rates and bank lending," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    19. Gauti B Eggertsson & Ragnar E Juelsrud & Lawrence H Summers & Ella Getz, 2024. "Negative Nominal Interest Rates and the Bank Lending Channel," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 91(4), pages 2201-2275.
    20. Shaw, Ming-fu & Chang, Juin-jen & Chen, Hung-Ju, 2013. "Capital adequacy and the bank lending channel: Macroeconomic implications," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 121-137.
    21. Rime, Bertrand, 2001. "Capital requirements and bank behaviour: Empirical evidence for Switzerland," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 789-805, April.
    22. Peek, Joe & Rosengren, Eric, 1995. "The Capital Crunch: Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 27(3), pages 625-638, August.
    23. Louzis, Dimitrios P. & Vouldis, Angelos T. & Metaxas, Vasilios L., 2012. "Macroeconomic and bank-specific determinants of non-performing loans in Greece: A comparative study of mortgage, business and consumer loan portfolios," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1012-1027.
    24. Woo, David, 2003. "In Search of "Capital Crunch": Supply Factors behind the Credit Slowdown in Japan," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(6), pages 1019-1038, December.
    25. Indraneel Chakraborty & Itay Goldstein & Andrew MacKinlay, 2018. "Housing Price Booms and Crowding-Out Effects in Bank Lending," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(7), pages 2806-2853.
    26. Ibrahim, Mansor H., 2016. "Business cycle and bank lending procyclicality in a dual banking system," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 127-134.
    27. Phil Molyneux & Alessio Reghezza & John Thornton & Ru Xie, 2020. "Did Negative Interest Rates Improve Bank Lending?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 51-68, February.
    28. Cull, Robert & Martínez Pería, María Soledad, 2013. "Bank ownership and lending patterns during the 2008–2009 financial crisis: Evidence from Latin America and Eastern Europe," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 4861-4878.
    29. Gambacorta, Leonardo & Shin, Hyun Song, 2018. "Why bank capital matters for monetary policy," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 35(PB), pages 17-29.
    30. Berger, Allen N. & Saunders, Anthony & Scalise, Joseph M. & Udell, Gregory F., 1998. "The effects of bank mergers and acquisitions on small business lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 187-229, November.
    31. Albertazzi, Ugo & Gambacorta, Leonardo, 2009. "Bank profitability and the business cycle," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 393-409, December.
    32. Fang, Xiang & Jutrsa, David & Peria, Soledad Martinez & Presbitero, Andrea F. & Ratnovski, Lev, 2022. "Bank capital requirements and lending in emerging markets: The role of bank characteristics and economic conditions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    33. Begenau, Juliane, 2020. "Capital requirements, risk choice, and liquidity provision in a business-cycle model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(2), pages 355-378.
    34. Molyneux, Philip & Reghezza, Alessio & Xie, Ru, 2019. "Bank margins and profits in a world of negative rates," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    35. Carlson, Mark & Shan, Hui & Warusawitharana, Missaka, 2013. "Capital ratios and bank lending: A matched bank approach," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 663-687.
    36. Becker, Bo & Ivashina, Victoria, 2014. "Cyclicality of credit supply: Firm level evidence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 76-93.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xue Li & Hexiang Yang & Jenny Jing Wang, 2025. "Who Deserves the Credit for Lower Unemployment? Structural Monetary Policy Tools and Corporate Labour Employment in China," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(4), pages 3829-3843, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kanga, Désiré & Murinde, Victor & Soumaré, Issouf, 2020. "Capital, risk and profitability of WAEMU banks: Does bank ownership matter?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    2. Burietz, Aurore & Picault, Matthieu, 2023. "To lend or not to lend? The ECB as the ‘intermediary of last resort’," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    3. Cappelletti, Giuseppe & Reghezza, Alessio & Rodríguez d'Acri, Costanza & Spaggiari, Martina, 2022. "Compositional effects of bank capital buffers and interactions with monetary policy," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Behn, Markus & Forletta, Marco & Reghezza, Alessio, 2024. "Buying insurance at low economic cost – the effects of bank capital buffer increases since the pandemic," Working Paper Series 2951, European Central Bank.
    5. Ardit Gjeçi & Matej Marinč & Vasja Rant, 2023. "Non-performing loans and bank lending behaviour," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(1), pages 1-26, March.
    6. Hessou, Helyoth & Lai, Van Son, 2018. "Basel III capital buffers and Canadian credit unions lending: Impact of the credit cycle and the business cycle," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 23-39.
    7. Cappelletti, Giuseppe & Reghezza, Alessio & Rodriguez d’Acri, Costanza & Spaggiari, Martina, 2020. "Compositional effects of O-SII capital buffers and the role of monetary policy," Working Paper Series 2440, European Central Bank.
    8. Retselisitsoe I. Thamae & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2022. "The impact of bank regulation on bank lending: a review of international literature," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(4), pages 405-418, December.
    9. Roberto Savona, 2022. "Bank business models, negative policy rates, and prudential regulation," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 355-392, September.
    10. Andrea Orame, 2020. "The role of bank supply in the Italian credit market: evidence from a new regional survey," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1279, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    11. Ponte Marques, Aurea & Juselius, Mikael & Tarashev, Nikola, 2025. "Banks’ regulatory risk tolerance," Working Paper Series 3161, European Central Bank.
    12. Chen, David Xiao & Friedrich, Christian, 2023. "The countercyclical capital buffer and international bank lending: Evidence from Canada," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    13. Zheng, Changjun & Moudud-Ul-Huq, Syed & Rahman, Mohammad Morshedur & Ashraf, Badar Nadeem, 2017. "Does the ownership structure matter for banks’ capital regulation and risk-taking behavior? Empirical evidence from a developing country," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 404-421.
    14. Bongiovanni, Alessio & Reghezza, Alessio & Santamaria, Riccardo & Williams, Jonathan, 2021. "Do negative interest rates affect bank risk-taking?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 350-364.
    15. Heider, Florian & Leonello, Agnese, 2021. "Monetary Policy in a Low Interest Rate Environment: Reversal Rate and Risk-Taking," Working Paper Series 2593, European Central Bank.
    16. Syed Moudud-Ul-Huq, 2021. "The Impact of Business Cycle on Banks’ Capital Buffer, Risk and Efficiency: A Dynamic GMM Approach from a Developing Economy," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 22(4), pages 921-940, August.
    17. Ana Clara Bueno Teixeira Feitosa Noronha & Daniel Oliveira Cajueiro & Benjamin Miranda Tabak, 2011. "Bank Capital Buffers, Lending Growth Andeconomic Cycle: Empirical Evidence For Brazil," Anais do XXXVIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 38th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 035, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    18. Brunella Bruno & Immacolata Marino, 2018. "How Do Banks Respond to Non-Performing Loans?," CSEF Working Papers 513, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 30 Jul 2021.
    19. Anne Duquerroy & Adrien Matray & Farzad Saidi, 2022. "Tracing Banks’ Credit Allocation to their Funding Costs," Working Papers 309, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    20. Paul E. Orzechowski, 2019. "The bank capital channel and bank profits," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 372-388, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:65:y:2025:i:3:p:2487-2516. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.