Using administrative account level data, we study the largest financial inclusion program in India that led to 255 million new bank account openings. About 77% of these accounts maintain a positive balance. While the initial usage remains quite infrequent, it gradually converges to that of...

We examine the Indian bank asset quality review, which doubled the declared loan delinquency rate. Relative economic stability during the exercise and the absence of a capital backstop together make it unique. We find that the expected reduction in information asymmetry does not automatically...

We propose a new channel for the transmission of monetary policy shocks, the coordination channel. We develop a New Keynesian model in which bank lending is strategically complementary. Banks do not observe the distribution of loans but infer it using Gaussian signals. Under this paradigm,...

We examine the effects of CEO turnover in banks. Incoming bank CEOs face problems from information asymmetry because banks' operations are opaque and bank risk can change dramatically in a short time. Incoming bank CEOs may therefore change bank policies to manage their personal risks. Since CEO...

Though the monetary policy transmission and financial intermediation literatures have respectively highlighted the role of the “bank credit channel” and relationship banking, the effect of relationship banking on the transmission of monitory policy has not been investigated. In this paper,...

We examine the effect of CEO turnover on earnings management in banks. Since banking is intrinsically an opaque activity, we hypothesize that an incoming CEO of a bank is more likely to manage earnings than a counterpart in a non financial firm. To identify the hypothesized effects, we exploit...

The financial crisis of 2008 highlighted the debilitating effect that a disruption in the banking sector can have on the macro-economy. Not surprisingly, therefore, preserving banking sector stability has occupied center stage in regulatory and policy making circles. As well, the popular...

Does deregulation of bank entry enhance bank stability or exacerbate bank fragility? Since the theoretically predicted effect of deregulation of bank entry on bank failures is ambiguous, this question has to be answered empirically. In this paper, we analyze the impact of deregulation of entry...

We examine private and confidential minutes of board meetings of a majority of Indian banks, and offer insights into the issues tabled and discussed in bank boards. We find that risk issues account for only 10% of the issues tabled with regulation and compliance accounting for the most (41%)...