Climate Stress Tests, Bank Lending, and the Transition to the Carbon-neutral Economy
Larissa Fuchs, Huyen Nguyen, Trang Nguyen, Klaus Schaeck
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 9,
2024
Abstract
We ask if bank supervisors’ efforts to combat climate change affect banks’ lending and their borrowers’ transition to the carbon-neutral economy. Combining information from the French supervisory agency’s climate pilot exercise with borrowers’ emission data, we first show that banks that participate in the exercise increase lending to high-carbon emitters but simultaneously charge higher interest rates. Second, participating banks collect new information about climate risks, and boost lending for green purposes. Third, receiving credit from a participating bank facilitates borrowers’ efforts to improve environmental performance. Our findings establish a hitherto undocumented link between banking supervision and the transition to net-zero.
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Do Public Bank Guarantees Affect Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence from Individual Employment and Wages
Laura Baessler, Georg Gebhardt, Reint E. Gropp, Andre Guettler, Ahmet Taskin
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 7,
2024
Abstract
We investigate whether employees in Germany benefit from public bank guarantees in terms of employment probability and wages. To that end, we exploit the removal of public bank guarantees in Germany in 2001 as a quasi-natural experiment. Our results show that bank guarantees lead to higher employment, but lower wage prospects for employees after working in affected establishments. Overall the results suggest that employees do not benefit from bank guarantees.
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12.03.2024 • 8/2024
Risk in the banking sector: four out of ten top supervisors come from the financial industry
Europe's banks realise excess returns on the stock market when their alumni join the boards of national supervisory authorities. A study by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) shows that this happens more frequently than previously recognised. The findings indicate a risk to financial stability and call for a more merit-based, transparent appointment of senior regulators.
Michael Koetter
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Klimastresstests, Kreditvergabeverhalten der Banken und der Übergang zur klimaneutralen Wirtschaft
Larissa Fuchs, Huyen Nguyen, Trang Nguyen, Klaus Schaeck
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 1,
2024
Abstract
Kann die Bankenaufsicht den Übergang zu einer kohlenstoffneutralen Wirtschaft unterstützen, indem sie die Kreditvergabe der Banken an Unternehmen beeinflusst? Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Kreditvergabe der Banken vor und nach dem weltweit ersten Klimastresstest in Frankreich und die Reaktion der kreditnehmenden Unternehmen. Die dem Stresstest unterworfenen Banken geben kohlenstoffintensiven Unternehmen mehr Kredite. Zugleich verlangen sie ihnen aber höhere Zinssätze ab. Die kohlenstoffintensiven Kreditnehmer, deren Banken sich dem Klimastresstest unterzogen haben, verpflichten sich eher zu ehrgeizigen Emissionszielen und integrieren eher Umweltaspekte in die Bewertung von Investitionsprojekten. Jedoch reduzieren sie weder direkt ihre Kohlenstoffemissionen noch beenden sie Beziehungen zu klimaschädlichen Lieferanten. Die Studie belegt somit einen kausalen Zusammenhang zwischen Klimastresstests der Banken und der Verringerung des Transitionsrisikos der Kreditnehmer.
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Supranational Rules, National Discretion: Increasing versus Inflating Regulatory Bank Capital?
Reint E. Gropp, Thomas Mosk, Steven Ongena, Ines Simac, Carlo Wix
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis,
No. 2,
2024
Abstract
We study how banks use “regulatory adjustments” to inflate their regulatory capital ratios and whether this depends on forbearance on the part of national authorities. Using the 2011 EBA capital exercise as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that banks substantially inflated their levels of regulatory capital via a reduction in regulatory adjustments — without a commensurate increase in book equity and without a reduction in bank risk. We document substantial heterogeneity in regulatory capital inflation across countries, suggesting that national authorities forbear their domestic banks to meet supranational requirements, with a focus on short-term economic considerations.
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Global Banks and Synthetic Funding: The Benefits of Foreign Relatives
Fernando Eguren-Martin, Matias Ossandon Busch, Dennis Reinhardt
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking,
No. 1,
2024
Abstract
Abstract This paper examines the effect of dislocations in foreign currency (FX) swap markets ("CIP deviations") on bank lending. Using data from UK banks we show that when the cost of obtaining swap-based funds in a particular foreign currency increases, banks reduce the supply of cross-border credit in that currency. This effect is increasing in the degree of banks' reliance on swap-based FX funding. Access to foreign relatives matters as banks employ internal capital markets to shield their cross-border FX lending supply from the described channel. Partial substitution occurs from banks outside the UK not affected by changes in synthetic funding costs.
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Media Response
Media Response January 2025 IWH: Die Pleitewelle ist ein Alarmsignal in: Saarbrücker Zeitung Regionalverband Saarbrücken, 20.01.2025 Oliver Holtemöller: Ökonomen zerpflücken…
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Research Data Centre (IWH-FDZ)
Research Data Centre The IWH Research Data Centre provides external scientists with data for non-commercial research. The research data centre of the IWH was accredited by RatSWD…
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Homepage
IWH founds a European centre for microdata research The Halle Institute is once again growing significantly. Its new "Centre for Business and Productivity Dynamics" aims to…
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People
People Doctoral Students PhD Representatives Alumni Supervisors Lecturers Coordinators Doctoral Students Afroza Alam (Supervisor: Reint Gropp ) Julian Andres Diaz Acosta…
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