IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ajk/ajkdps/012.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Unequal andunstable: income inequality and bank risk

Author

Listed:
  • Yuliyan Mitkov

    (Institute for Finance and Statistics, University of Bonn)

  • Ulrich Schüwer

    (Interim Professor at Goethe University Frankfurt)

Abstract

We provide evidence that regions in the U.S. with higher income inequality tend to have a riskier banking sector. However, not all banks are more risky, as reflected in a higher dispersion of bank risk. We show how a model based on risk-shifting incentives where banks channel insured deposits into subprime loans can accountfor both findings. In equilibrium, a competition to risk-shift emerges, leading to a subprime lending boom in which loans to high-risk borrowers carry negative NPVs. Some banks engage in risk-shifting by lending to high-risk subprime borrowers, while the rest specialize in lending to low-risk prime borrowers.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuliyan Mitkov & Ulrich Schüwer, 2021. "Unequal andunstable: income inequality and bank risk," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 012, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_012_2020.pdf
    File Function: Third version, 2021
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanni Favara & Jean Imbs, 2015. "Credit Supply and the Price of Housing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(3), pages 958-992, March.
    2. Michael Kumhof & Romain Rancière & Pablo Winant, 2015. "Inequality, Leverage, and Crises," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(3), pages 1217-1245, March.
    3. Dirk Krueger & Fabrizio Perri, 2006. "Does Income Inequality Lead to Consumption Inequality? Evidence and Theory -super-1," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(1), pages 163-193.
    4. Matteo Iacoviello, 2008. "Household Debt and Income Inequality, 1963-2003," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(5), pages 929-965, August.
    5. Keeley, Michael C, 1990. "Deposit Insurance, Risk, and Market Power in Banking," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1183-1200, December.
    6. Foote, Christopher L. & Gerardi, Kristopher & Willen, Paul S., 2008. "Negative equity and foreclosure: Theory and evidence," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 234-245, September.
    7. Fernández-Val, Iván, 2009. "Fixed effects estimation of structural parameters and marginal effects in panel probit models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 150(1), pages 71-85, May.
    8. Philippon, Thomas & Midrigan, Virgiliu, 2011. "Household Leverage and the Recession," CEPR Discussion Papers 8381, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Mark Carlson & Kris James Mitchener, 2009. "Branch Banking as a Device for Discipline: Competition and Bank Survivorship during the Great Depression," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 117(2), pages 165-210, April.
    10. John H. Boyd & Gianni De Nicoló, 2005. "The Theory of Bank Risk Taking and Competition Revisited," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1329-1343, June.
    11. David Martinez-Miera & Rafael Repullo, 2010. "Does Competition Reduce the Risk of Bank Failure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3638-3664, October.
    12. Jayaratne, Jith & Strahan, Philip E, 1998. "Entry Restrictions, Industry Evolution, and Dynamic Efficiency: Evidence from Commercial Banking," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 239-273, April.
    13. Rebel Cole & Lawrence White, 2012. "Déjà Vu All Over Again: The Causes of U.S. Commercial Bank Failures This Time Around," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 42(1), pages 5-29, October.
    14. Klaus Schaeck & Martin Cihak & Simon Wolfe, 2009. "Are Competitive Banking Systems More Stable?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 711-734, June.
    15. Michael Kumhof & Romain Rancière & Pablo Winant, 2015. "Inequality, Leverage, and Crises," Post-Print halshs-01511070, HAL.
    16. repec:hal:pseose:hal-01301589 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Repullo, Rafael & Suarez, Javier, 2004. "Loan pricing under Basel capital requirements," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 496-521, October.
    18. Atif Mian & Amir Sufi, 2009. "The Consequences of Mortgage Credit Expansion: Evidence from the U.S. Mortgage Default Crisis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1449-1496.
    19. Stefan Gissler & Rodney Ramcharan & Edison Yu, 2018. "The Effects of Competition in Consumer Credit Markets," Working Papers 18-24, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    20. Cristina Arellano, 2008. "Default Risk and Income Fluctuations in Emerging Economies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(3), pages 690-712, June.
    21. Callum Jones & Virgiliu Midrigan & Thomas Philippon, 2022. "Household Leverage and the Recession," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(5), pages 2471-2505, September.
    22. Andrew F. Haughwout & Donghoon Lee & Joseph Tracy & Wilbert Van der Klaauw, 2011. "Real estate investors, the leverage cycle, and the housing market crisis," Staff Reports 514, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    23. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01207208 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Jiménez, Gabriel & Lopez, Jose A. & Saurina, Jesús, 2013. "How does competition affect bank risk-taking?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 185-195.
    25. Manuel Adelino & Antoinette Schoar & Felipe Severino, 2016. "Editor's Choice Loan Originations and Defaults in the Mortgage Crisis: The Role of the Middle Class," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(7), pages 1635-1670.
    26. Fabio Braggion & Narly Dwarkasing & Lyndon Moore, 2017. "Nothing Special About Banks: Competition and Bank Lending in Britain, 1885–1925," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(10), pages 3502-3537.
    27. Rochet, Jean-Charles, 1992. "Capital requirements and the behaviour of commercial banks," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1137-1170, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Canta, Chiara & Nilsen, Øivind A. & Ulsaker, Simen A., 2023. "Competition and risk taking in local bank markets: Evidence from the business loans segment," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 153-169.
    2. Bátiz-Zuk Enrique & Lara Sánchez José Luis, 2021. "Revisiting the link between systemic risk and competition based on network theory and interbank exposures," Working Papers 2021-26, Banco de México.
    3. Allen N. Berger & Björn Imbierowicz & Christian Rauch, 2016. "The Roles of Corporate Governance in Bank Failures during the Recent Financial Crisis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(4), pages 729-770, June.
    4. Francesco Marchionne & Alberto Zazzaro, 2018. "Risk and competitiveness in the Italian banking sector," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(1), pages 271-280.
    5. Sinha, Pankaj & Sharma, Sakshi, 2016. "Relationship of financial stability and risk with market structure and competition: evidence from Indian banking sector," MPRA Paper 72247, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Fabiana Gomez & Jorge Ponce, 2014. "Bank Competition and Loan Quality," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 46(3), pages 215-233, December.
    7. Brown, Sarah & Gray, Daniel & Montagnoli, Alberto, 2019. "Credit supply shocks and household leverage: Evidence from the US banking deregulation," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 97-115.
    8. Mr. Michael Kumhof & Mr. Romain Ranciere & Pablo Winant, 2013. "Inequality, Leverage and Crises: The Case of Endogenous Default," IMF Working Papers 2013/249, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Klaus Schaeck & Martin Cihák, 2014. "Competition, Efficiency, and Stability in Banking," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(1), pages 215-241, March.
    10. Rodolphe Dos Santos Ferreira & Leonor Modesto, 2021. "Competition and the risk of bank failure: Breaking with the representative borrower assumption," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(4), pages 622-638, August.
    11. Liangliang Jiang & Ross Levine & Chen Lin, 2023. "Does Competition Affect Bank Risk?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(5), pages 1043-1076, August.
    12. Coibion, Olivier & Gorodnichenko, Yuriy & Kudlyak, Marianna & Mondragon, John, 2014. "Does Greater Inequality Lead to More Household Borrowing? New Evidence from Household Data," IZA Discussion Papers 7910, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Xavier Vives, 2011. "Competition and Stability in Banking," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Luis Felipe Céspedes & Roberto Chang & Diego Saravia (ed.),Monetary Policy under Financial Turbulence, edition 1, volume 16, chapter 12, pages 455-502, Central Bank of Chile.
    14. Beck, Thorsten & De Jonghe, Olivier & Schepens, Glenn, 2013. "Bank competition and stability: Cross-country heterogeneity," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 218-244.
    15. Nina Vujanović & Nikola Fabris, 2021. "Does market competition affect all banks equally? Empirical evidence on Montenegro," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 10(2), pages 87-107.
    16. repec:dgr:uvatin:20130210 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Alan Xiaochen Feng, 2018. "Bank Competition, Risk Taking, and their Consequences: Evidence from the U.S. Mortgage and Labor Markets," IMF Working Papers 2018/157, International Monetary Fund.
    18. Brei, Michael & Jacolin, Luc & Noah, Alphonse, 2020. "Credit risk and bank competition in Sub-Saharan Africa," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    19. Maria Karadima & Helen Louri, 2019. "Non-performing loans in the euro area: does market power matter?," Working Papers 271, Bank of Greece.
    20. Mohamed Albaity & Ray Saadaoui Mallek & Hussein A. Hassan Al‐Tamimi & Abu Hanifa Md. Noman, 2021. "Does competition lead to financial stability or financial fragility for Islamic and conventional banks? Evidence from the GCC countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4706-4722, July.
    21. Ibrahim, Mansor H. & Salim, Kinan & Abojeib, Moutaz & Yeap, Lau Wee, 2019. "Structural changes, competition and bank stability in Malaysia’s dual banking system," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 111-129.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Financial stability; Agency costs; Composition of credit; Banking competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:012. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ECONtribute Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.econtribute.de .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.