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The Unholy Trinity: Regulatory Forbearance, Stressed Banks and Zombie Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Anusha Chari
  • Lakshita Jain
  • Nirupama Kulkarni

Abstract

During the global financial crisis, the Reserve Bank of India enacted forbearance measures that lowered capital provisioning rates for loans under temporary liquidity stress. Matched bank-firm data reveal that troubled banks took advantage of the policy to also shield firms facing serious solvency issues. Perversely, in industries and bank portfolios with high proportions of failing firms, credit to healthy firms declined and was reallocated to the weakest firms. By incentivizing banks to hide true asset quality, the forbearance policy provided a license for regulatory arbitrage. The build-up of stressed assets in India’s predominantly state-owned banking system is consistent with accounting subterfuge.

Suggested Citation

  • Anusha Chari & Lakshita Jain & Nirupama Kulkarni, 2021. "The Unholy Trinity: Regulatory Forbearance, Stressed Banks and Zombie Firms," NBER Working Papers 28435, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28435
    Note: CF DEV EFG IFM ME
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    Cited by:

    1. Huneeus, Federico & Kaboski, Joseph & Larrain, Mauricio & Schmukler, Sergio L. & Vera, Mario, 2022. "The Distribution of Crisis Credit: Effects on Firm Indebtedness and Aggregate Risk," CEPR Discussion Papers 17061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Nistor, Simona & Fărcaș, Ioana Georgiana, 2025. "Does national culture affect macroprudential policy? An international investigation of regulatory behavior on macroprudential interventions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    3. Stefano Fiorin & Joseph Hall & Martin Kanz, 2023. "How do Borrowers Respond to a Debt Moratorium? Experimental Evidence from Consumer Loans in India," Working Papers 691, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    4. Chakrabarti, Prasenjit & Kaur, Jasmeet, 2024. "Zombie-lending during the pandemic in India: Did the Central Bank reduce credit misallocation concerns of forbearance?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 153-170.
    5. Li, Xuchao & Shao, Xiang & Shen, Guangjun & Zou, Jingxian, 2025. "Bank competition and formation of zombie firms: Evidence from banking deregulation in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    6. repec:rza:wpaper:887 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Zhi, Xiaoxu & Liu, Zongzhi & Yuan, Lingran & Shi, Xinjie & Huang, Biao & Gong, Binlei, 2025. "Rent-seeking cooperatives under information asymmetry: Evidence from agricultural subsidy policy in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. repec:ags:aaea22:343636 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Kalimipalli, Madhu & Morohunfolu, Olaleye & Ramachandran, Shankar, 2024. "Do repeated government infusions help financial stability? Evidence from an emerging market," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Faria-e-Castro, Miguel & Paul, Pascal & Sánchez, Juan M., 2024. "Evergreening," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
      • Miguel Faria-e-Castro & Pascal Paul & Juan M. Sanchez, 2021. "Evergreening," Working Papers 2021-012, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised Aug 2023.
      • Miguel Faria-e-Castro & Pascal Paul & Juan M. Sanchez, 2023. "Evergreening," Working Paper Series 2022-14, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    11. Srivastava, Pranjal & Saurav, Sumit & Mishra, Abinash, 2025. "Does government ownership differently impact expected left-tail and volatility risk of bank stock? Evidence from options market," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Huneeus, Federico & Kaboski, Joseph P. & Larrain, Mauricio & Schmukler, Sergio & Vera, Mario, 2024. "Crisis Credit, Employment Protection, Indebtedness, and Risk," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10958, The World Bank.
    13. Kaehny, Maximilian & Herweg, Fabian, 2022. "Do Zombies Rise When Interest Rates Fall? A Relationship-Banking Model," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264126, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. C. A. K. Lovell, 2021. "The Pandemic, The Climate, and Productivity," CEPA Working Papers Series WP112021, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    15. Lucas A. Mariani & Silvia Marchesi, 2023. "International Lending Channel, Bank Heterogeneity and Capital Inflows (Mis)Allocation," ERSA Working Paper Series, Economic Research Southern Africa, vol. 0.
    16. Zhi, Xiaoxu & Liu, Zongzhi & Yuan, Lingran & Gong, Binlei, 2024. "Rent-seeking Vampires Under Information Asymmetry: Evidence From Agricultural Cooperatives Subsidy Policy in China," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343636, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Fabian Herweg & Maximilian Kähny, 2022. "Do Zombies Rise when Interest Rates Fall? A Relationship Banking Model," CESifo Working Paper Series 9628, CESifo.
    18. Pavel Chakraborty, 2024. "Bank ownership and firm performance," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(361), pages 238-267, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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