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Lower bank capital requirements as a policy tool to support credit to SMEs: evidence from a policy experiment

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  • Mathias Lé
  • Sandrine Lecarpentier

    (EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Henri Fraisse
  • Michel Dietsch

Abstract

Starting in 2014 with the implementation of the European Commission Capital Requirement Directive, banks operating in the Euro area were benefiting from a 25% reduction (the Supporting Factor or "SF" hereafter) in their own funds requirements against Small and Medium-sized enterprises ("SMEs" hereafter) loans. We investigate empirically whether this reduction has supported SME financing and to which extent it is consistent with SME credit risk. Economic capital computations based on multifactor models do confirm that capital requirements should be lower for SMEs. Taking into account the uncertainty surrounding their estimates and adopting a conservative approach, we show that the SF is consistent with the difference in economic capital between SMEs and large corporates. As for the impact on credit distribution, our differences-in-differences specification enables us to find a positive and significant impact of the SF on the credit supply.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathias Lé & Sandrine Lecarpentier & Henri Fraisse & Michel Dietsch, 2019. "Lower bank capital requirements as a policy tool to support credit to SMEs: evidence from a policy experiment," Working Papers hal-04141885, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04141885
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04141885
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    Cited by:

    1. Bonaccorsi di Patti, Emilia & Moscatelli, Mirko & Pietrosanti, Stefano, 2023. "The impact of bank regulation on the cost of credit: Evidence from a discontinuity in capital requirements," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    2. Dafermos, Yannis & Nikolaidi, Maria, 2021. "How can green differentiated capital requirements affect climate risks? A dynamic macrofinancial analysis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    3. Elif C. Arbatli-Saxegaard & Ragnar E. Juelsrud, 2020. "Countercyclical capital requirement reductions, state dependence and macroeconomic outcomes," Working Paper 2020/9, Norges Bank.
    4. Christian Pfister & Natacha Valla, 2021. "Financial Stability Is Easier to Green Than Monetary Policy," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 56(3), pages 154-159, May.
    5. Dafermos, Yannis & Nikolaidi, Maria, 2022. "Greening capital requirements," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 37779, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    6. Elif C. Arbatli-Saxegaard & Ragnar E. Juelsrud, 2022. "Capital Requirement Reductions, Heterogeneity, and Real Economic Outcomes," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 18(2), pages 349-401, June.
    7. Maddalena Galardo & Valerio Vacca, 2022. "Higher capital requirements and credit supply: evidence from Italy," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1372, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    8. Jay Cullen, 2022. "“Economically inefficient and legally untenable”: constitutional limitations on the introduction of central bank digital currencies in the EU," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 31-41, March.
    9. Ana Mol-Gómez-Vázquez & Ginés Hernández-Cánovas & Johanna Koëter-Kant, 2022. "Banking stability and borrower discouragement: a multilevel analysis for SMEs in the EU-28," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1579-1593, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    SME finance; Credit supply; Basel III; Credit risk modelling; SME Supporting Factor;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation

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