Leverage Across Firms, Banks and Countries

Sørensen, Bent E, Kalemli-Özcan, Sebnem and Sevcan Yesiltas
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan

No 8549, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We present new stylized facts on bank and firm leverage for 2000-2009 using extensive internationally comparable micro level data from several countries. The main result is that there was very little buildup in leverage for the average non-financial firm and commercial bank before the crisis, but the picture was quite different for large commercial banks States and for investment banks worldwide. We document the following patterns: a) there was an increase in leverage ratios of investment banks and financial firms during the early 2000s; b) there was no visible increase for commercial banks and non-financial firms; c) off balance-sheet items constitute a big fraction of assets, especially for large commercial banks in the United States; d) the leverage ratio is procyclical for investment banks and for large commercial banks in the United States; e) banks in emerging markets with tighter bank regulation and stronger investor protection experienced significantly less deleveraging during the crisis. These results show that excessive risk taking before the crisis was not easily detectable because the risk involved the quality rather than the amount of assets.

Keywords: Leverage; Crisis; International; Banks; Firms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E32 F15 F36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Leverage across firms, banks, and countries (2012)
Chapter: Leverage across Firms, Banks, and Countries (2011)
Working Paper: Leverage Across Firms, Banks, and Countries (2011)
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