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Board Accountability and Risk Taking in Banking – Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment

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  • Körner, Tobias

Abstract

In this paper, a law reform is evaluated that aimed at improving the corporate governance of German savings banks by tightening accountability and legal liability of outside directors. The causal effect of this reform on bank risk is identified by difference-in-differences and triple differences strategies. The estimation results show that savings banks subject to the reform increased capital and liquidity ratios. Hence, they have become less vulnerable to unexpected losses and liquidity shocks. This indicates that the low occurrence of outside director litigation reflects incentive effects of current liability regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Körner, Tobias, 2012. "Board Accountability and Risk Taking in Banking – Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment," Ruhr Economic Papers 313, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:313
    DOI: 10.4419/86788359
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    Cited by:

    1. Francis Osei-Tutu & Laurent Weill, 2021. "How language shapes bank risk taking," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 59(1), pages 47-68, April.
    2. Anastasiya Shamshur & Laurent Weill, 2023. "Bank Risk and Firm Investment: Evidence from Firm-Level Data," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 63(1), pages 1-34, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate governance; outside directors; legal liability; bank risk;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K20 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - General

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