We study the effects of the interplay between deregulation and governance on risk-taking in the financial industry. We consider the removal of regulatory geographic constraints for savings banks in Spain, the cajas, which led to a nationwide expansion of these banks during the past two decades. Based on a unique dataset that combines information on the geographic distribution of bank lending, matched lender-borrower financial statements, and borrower defaults, we find that the governance of the savings banks significantly affects the way in which they expand their lending activities. Savings banks that are subject to political influence by regional governments exhibit higher ex ante risk-taking and higher ex post loan defaults. Our study highlights the broader implications of the impact of global deregulation and consolidation and their interaction with governance issues.

Some studies find that market power is associated with credit availability (information hypothesis); others find that less competitive banking markets lead to more credit rationing (market power hypothesis). Empirical research has relied solely on concentration as a measure of market power. The industrial organization literature, however, argues that a structural competition indicator such as the Lerner index is a superior measure. We test the information hypothesis and the market power hypothesis using these two alternative measures of market power and find that they generally give conflicting results. However, we also offer evidence suggesting that both views can be reconciled.