The U.S. bank stress tests aim to improve financial system stability. However, they may also affect bank credit supply. We formulate and test opposing hypotheses about these effects. Our findings are consistent with the Risk Management Hypothesis, under which stress-tested banks reduce credit...

We conduct the first broad-based international study on bank-level failures covering 92 countries over 2000-2014, investigating national culture variables as failure determinants. We find individualism and masculinity are positively associated with bank failure, but operate through different...

We examine how bank efficiency during normal times affects survival, risk, and profitability during subsequent financial crises using data from five U.S. financial crises and preceding normal times. We find cost efficiency during normal times helps reduce bank failure probabilities, decrease...

Theory suggests that government aid to banks may either reduce or increase systemic risk. We are the first to address this issue empirically, analyzing the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Analysis suggests that TARP significantly reduced contributions to systemic risk, particularly for...

Prudential bank supervision is designed to enhance financial stability, but we are unaware of research linking this supervision to financial system risk. In particular, there are no prior findings on how supervisory enforcement actions (EAs) – major tools of supervisors – affect systemic...

We investigate benefits to business borrowers from bank bailouts – specifically the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Applying difference-in-difference methodology to loan-level data, we find more favorable contract terms in five dimensions – spread, amount, maturity, collateral, and...

We investigate whether saving Wall Street through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) really saved Main Street during the recent financial crisis. Our difference-in-difference analysis suggests that TARP statistically and economically significantly increased net job creation and net hiring...

We analyze comparative advantages/disadvantages of small and large banks in improving household sentiment regarding financial conditions. We match sentiment data from the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers with local banking market data from 2000-2014. Surprisingly, the evidence...

We model dynamic bank capital structure under three optimally-designed regulatory regimes dealing with potential default { bailout, where government provides capital; bail-in, using private-sector funds; and no regulatory intervention, allowing failure. Only under optimally designed bail-in do...

Despite ample research demonstrating many consequences of bank geographic deregulation, the bank capital determinants literature has not directly tested the effects of this deregulation. This paper fills this important research gap. We find strong evidence that geographic deregulation...