An important role for bank capital is that of a buffer against unexpected losses. As uncertainty about these losses … increases, the theory predicts an increase in the optimal level of bank capital. This paper investigates this implication … reduction in bank capital ratios of slightly over 1 percentage point. However, I also find suggestive evidence that the …

This paper investigates the degree of bank competition in the euro area, the U.S. and U.K. before and after the recent … financial crisis, and revisits the issue whether the introduction of EMU and the euro have had any impact on bank competition …. The results suggest that the level of bank competition converged across euro area countries in the wake of the EMU. The …

low-income countries, by exploring bank-level data provided by Bankscope. The paper examines three key channels of …