We use bank-, loan- and firm-level data together with a quasi-natural experiment to estimate the impact of capital requirement reductions on bank lending and real economic outcomes. We find that capital requirement reductions increase lending both to households and firms at the bank- and...

This paper analyses how the introduction of the IRB approach may have affected banks' lending to enterprises, lending margins and portfolio quality in Norway. Our results show that the IRB banks' lending margins decreased compared with the standardised approach banks following the introduction...

We evaluate the impact of mortgage regulation on credit volumes, household balance sheets and the reaction to adverse economic shocks. Using a comprehensive dataset of all housing transactions in Norway matched with buyers' balance sheet information from official tax records, we identify causal...

In this paper, we analyse the appropriate capital adequacy ratio for banks from a socio-economic perspective. More equity capital in banks can contribute to financial stability by reducing the risk of costly banking crises, but lending may become more expensive if banks are required finance...

We use the EBA capital exercise of 2011 as a quasi-natural experiment to investigate how capital requirements affect various measures of bank solvency risk. We show that, while regulatory measures of solvency improve, non-regulatory measures indicate a deterioration in bank solvency in response...

Using a unique dataset of the Euro area and the U.S. bank lending standards, we find that low (monetary policy) short-term interest rates soften standards, for household and corporate loans. This softening – especially for mortgages – is amplified by securitization activity, weak supervision...