We develop a model of the joint capital structure decisions of banks and their borrowers. Strikingly high bank leverage emerges naturally from the interplay between two sets of forces. First, seniority and diversification reduce bank asset volatility by an order of magnitude relative to that of...

Traditional capital structure theory predicts that reducing banks' leverage reduces the risk and cost of equity but does not change the weighted average cost of capital, and thus the rates for borrowers. We confirm that the equity of better-capitalized banks has lower beta and idiosyncratic...

This paper investigates the determinants of new equity offerings and estimates its costs in sample selection model. The main finding is that a weak capital base is one of the key driving forces of the new issuance around the recently strengthened Basel regulations, although banks were not...

This paper investigates the determinants of new equity offerings and estimates its costs in sample selection model. The main finding is that a weak capital base is one of the key driving forces of the new issuance around the recently strengthened Basel regulations, although banks were not...

We construct a new systemic risk measure that quantifies vulnerability to fire-sale spillovers using detailed regulatory balance sheet data for U.S. commercial banks and repo market data for broker-dealers. Even for moderate shocks in normal times, fire-sale externalities can be substantial. For...

We take issue with claims that the funding mix of banks, which makes them fragile and crisis-prone, is efficient because it reflects special liquidity benefits of bank debt. Even aside from neglecting the systemic damage to the economy that banks' distress and default cause, such claims are...

We take issue with claims that the funding mix of banks, which makes them fragile and crisisprone, is efficient because it reflects special liquidity benefits of bank debt. Even aside from neglecting the systemic damage to the economy that banks' distress and default cause, such claims are...

We use new data measuring forward-looking physical climate risk at the firm level to examine the impact of climate risk on capital structure. We find that greater climate risk leads to lower leverage in the post-2015 period, i.e., after the Paris Agreement. Our results hold after controlling for...

The article deals with the procyclical development of risk weights and hence the risk-weighted capital ratio. The leverage ratio should be included in the regulatory reform package (CRR2) as a (non-risk-weighted) prudential backstop. The article defines the complementary relationship of capital...

The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the role of firm- industry-, institutional-, and macroeconomic-factors on a firm's capital structure decision in the context of nine African countries. To this end, we consider a sample of 986 non-financial firms over a period of 10 years...