Complementarities between capital buffers and dividend prudential target

In this paper, the authors introduce a dividend prudential target rule (DPT) à la Muñoz (2021) in a DSGE model, by Clerc et al. (2015), where banks can default, and extend the model by introducing bankers’ preference for dividend smoothing. Both versions of the model - the original by Clerc et al. (2015) and the extension to banker dividend smoothing – shed light on the same transmission channels of the DPT. However, the results are quantitatively more pronounced in the extended version. The results show the beneficial impact of the DPT on bank resilience and in mitigating the credit downturn and supporting the economic recovery in response to shocks, originating either from the financial system or from the real economy. Moreover, the paper shows the existence of complementarities between the DPT and the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) in smoothing the credit cycle and in improving the social welfare. Compared to the original version of the model, in presence of the more realistic assumption of bankers’ preference for dividend smoothing the benefits of the synergy between the CCyB and the DPT rule appear to be bigger.