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Journal of Financial Intermediation Vol. 51 2022

Countercyclical prudential buffers and bank risk-taking

Manuel Illueca1; Lars Nordén; Joseph Pacelli2; Gregory F. Udell3

1 Universitat Jaume I · 2 Harvard Business School, USA · 3 Indiana University

Abstract

We investigate the effects of countercyclical prudential buffers on bank risk-taking. We exploit the introduction of dynamic loan loss provisioning in Spain, mandating that banks use historical average loss rates in their estimation of loan loss provisions. We find that dynamic loan loss provisioning is associated with reductions in timely loan loss provisioning. Banks that previously recognized loan losses in a timely fashion exhibit the greatest reductions in timeliness and consequently extend loans to riskier borrowers with lower accounting quality. Our results have policy implications for the debate on the use of financial reporting requirements in mitigating capital pro-cyclicality.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfi.2022.100961
Volume
51
Pages
100961
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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