American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Liberalization, Moral Hazard in Banking, and Prudential Regulation: Are Capital Requirements Enough?
American Economic Review
vol. 90,
no. 1, March 2000
(pp. 147–165)
Abstract
In a dynamic model of moral hazard, competition can undermine prudent bank behavior. While capital-requirement regulation can induce prudent behavior, the policy yields Pareto-inefficient outcomes. Capital requirements reduce gambling incentives by putting bank equity at risk. However, they also have a perverse effect of harming banks' franchise values, thus encouraging gambling. Pareto-efficient outcomes can be achieved by adding deposit-rate controls as a regulatory instrument, since they facilitate prudent investment by increasing franchise values. Even if deposit-rate ceilings are not binding on the equilibrium path, they may be useful in deterring gambling off the equilibrium path.Citation
Hellmann, Thomas, F., Kevin C. Murdock, and Joseph E. Stiglitz. 2000. "Liberalization, Moral Hazard in Banking, and Prudential Regulation: Are Capital Requirements Enough?" American Economic Review, 90 (1): 147–165. DOI: 10.1257/aer.90.1.147JEL Classification
- G21 Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
- G28 Financial Institutions and Services: Government Policy and Regulation