IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ise/remwps/wp02722023.html

Bank Regulation and Sovereign Risk: A Paradox

Author

Listed:
  • António Afonso
  • André Teixeira

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of banking prudential regulation on sovereign risk. We show that prudential regulation reduces sovereign risk and induces governments to spend more. As a result, countries with tight prudential regulation have lower primary budget balances and accumulate more government debt over time. This means that prudential regulation reduces private debt, while paradoxically increasing government debt. We explore several explanations for this paradox. Our results suggest that prudential regulation enables governments to accumulate debt because they improve the nation’s credit rating and its borrowing conditions in sovereign bond markets.

Suggested Citation

  • António Afonso & André Teixeira, 2023. "Bank Regulation and Sovereign Risk: A Paradox," Working Papers REM 2023/0272, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    • Handle: RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02722023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://rem.rc.iseg.ulisboa.pt/wps/pdf/REM_WP_0272_2023.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Akinci, Ozge & Olmstead-Rumsey, Jane, 2018. "How effective are macroprudential policies? An empirical investigation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 33-57.
    2. Stephan Dieckmann & Thomas Plank, 2012. "Default Risk of Advanced Economies: An Empirical Analysis of Credit Default Swaps during the Financial Crisis," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 16(4), pages 903-934.
    3. Teixeira, André, 2023. "Does macroprudential policy affect wealth inequality? Evidence from synthetic controls," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Paolo Angelini & Stefano Neri & Fabio Panetta, 2014. "The Interaction between Capital Requirements and Monetary Policy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(6), pages 1073-1112, September.
    5. Afonso, António & Furceri, Davide & Gomes, Pedro, 2012. "Sovereign credit ratings and financial markets linkages: Application to European data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 606-638.
    6. Javier Alvarez & Manuel Arellano, 2003. "The Time Series and Cross-Section Asymptotics of Dynamic Panel Data Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(4), pages 1121-1159, July.
    7. Klomp, Jeroen & de Haan, Jakob, 2009. "Central bank independence and financial instability," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 321-338, December.
    8. Giovanni Dell’ariccia & Deniz Igan & Luc Laeven, 2012. "Credit Booms and Lending Standards: Evidence from the Subprime Mortgage Market," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44, pages 367-384, March.
    9. Doumpos, Michael & Gaganis, Chrysovalantis & Pasiouras, Fotios, 2015. "Central bank independence, financial supervision structure and bank soundness: An empirical analysis around the crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(S1), pages 69-83.
    10. Afonso, António & Tovar Jalles, João, 2019. "Quantitative easing and sovereign yield spreads: Euro-area time-varying evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 208-224.
    11. Afonso, António & Tovar Jalles, João, 2017. "Sovereign debt composition and time-varying public finance sustainability," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 144-155.
    12. International Monetary Fund, 2011. "Macroprudential Policy: What Instruments and How to Use them? Lessons From Country Experiences," IMF Working Papers 2011/238, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Teixeira, André, 2022. "The real effects of macroprudential policy: Evidence from micro data," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 1165-1178.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Afonso, António & Teixeira, André, 2025. "The paradox of macroprudential policy and sovereign risk," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    2. Soyoung Kim & Aaron Mehrotra, "undated". "Effects of monetary and macroprudential policies – evidence from inflation targeting economies in the Asia-Pacific region and potential implications for China," GRU Working Paper Series GRU_2016_025, City University of Hong Kong, Department of Economics and Finance, Global Research Unit.
    3. Coman, Andra & Lloyd, Simon P., 2022. "In the face of spillovers: Prudential policies in emerging economies," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    4. Malovaná, Simona & Hodula, Martin & Gric, Zuzana & Bajzík, Josef, 2023. "Macroprudential policy in central banks: Integrated or separate? Survey among academics and central bankers," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    5. Soyoung Kim & Aaron Mehrotra, "undated". "Effects of monetary and macroprudential policies – evidence from inflation targeting economies in the Asia-Pacific region and potential implications for China," GRU Working Paper Series GRU_2016_025, City University of Hong Kong, Department of Economics and Finance, Global Research Unit.
    6. André Teixeira & Zoë Venter, 2021. "Macroprudential Policy and Aggregate Demand," Working Papers REM 2021/0181, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    7. Nitzan Tzur-Ilan, 2019. "Macroprudential Policy: Implementation, Effects, And Lessons," Israel Economic Review, Bank of Israel, vol. 17(1), pages 39-71.
    8. Budnik, Katarzyna, 2020. "The effect of macroprudential policies on credit developments in Europe 1995-2017," Working Paper Series 2462, European Central Bank.
    9. Ćehajić, Aida & Košak, Marko, 2021. "Macroprudential measures and developments in bank funding costs," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Klingelhöfer, Jan & Sun, Rongrong, 2019. "Macroprudential policy, central banks and financial stability: Evidence from China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 19-41.
    11. Emna Trabelsi, 2019. "Do independence and transparency matter for bank development? A new lookup on emerging and developing countries," Post-Print hal-02162780, HAL.
    12. Yang, Jin Young & Suh, Hyunduk, 2023. "Heterogeneous effects of macroprudential policies on firm leverage and value," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    13. Mugrabi, Farah & Belkhir, Mohamed & Naceur, Sami Ben & Candelon, Bertrand & Choi, Woon Gyu, 2026. "Macroprudential policy and bank systemic risk: Does inflation targeting matter?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Ćehajić, Aida & Košak, Marko, 2022. "Bank lending and small and medium-sized enterprises’ access to finance – Effects of macroprudential policies," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    15. Coman, Andra, 2023. "Monetary policy spillovers and the role of prudential policies in the European Union," Working Paper Series 2854, European Central Bank.
    16. William Gatt, 2024. "Loan‐to‐value limits as a macroprudential policy tool: Developments in theory and practice," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 232-267, February.
    17. João Tovar Jalles & André Teixeira, 2025. "Austerity And Banking: The Impact Of Fiscal Consolidation On Bank Efficiency And Stability," Working Papers REM 2025/0370, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    18. Coman, Andra, 2025. "Monetary policy spillovers and the role of prudential policies in the European Union," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    19. Karlström, Peter, 2025. "Macroprudential policy and systemic risk: The role of corporate and household credit booms," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    20. Cep Jandi Anwar & Stephen G Hall & Nermeen Harb & Indra Suhendra & Eka Purwanda, 2023. "Evaluation of central bank independence, macroprudential policy, and credit gap in developing countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(5), pages 1-15, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ise:remwps:wp02722023. 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: Sandra Araújo (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rem.rc.iseg.ulisboa.pt/ .

    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.