The equity of too-big-to-fail banks could be deemed less risky due to implicit government guarantees. However, such guarantees could also amplify a moral hazard problem that induces large banks to take excessive risk. If such risk is mispriced by the market due to the increased complexity of...

We examine the relationship between leverage and the weighted-average cost of capital (WACC) for U.S. banks. Ignoring tax effects, leverage appears to have virtually no impact on the WACCs of too-big-to-fail banks. We find significant differences in this relationship across different...