We examine the dynamic behavior of bank capital using a global sample of 64 countries during the 1994–2010 period. Banks achieve deleveraging primarily through equity growth (rather than asset liquidation). In contrast, they achieve leveraging through reduced earnings retention and substantial...

Many authors relate a firm's performance to legal and political features and the regulatory environment in which it operates. This article compares firms' capital structure adjustments across countries and investigates whether institutional differences help explain the variance in estimated...