Predictors of bank distress: The 1907 crisis in Sweden

Anna Grodecka-Messi, Seán Kenny and Anders Ögren

Explorations in Economic History, 2021, vol. 80, issue C

Abstract: This paper studies the Swedish experience of the international crisis of 1907, which is often compared with the crisis of 2008. By constructing a new dataset from previously unanalyzed monthly bank-level data, we document high-frequency changes in bank outcomes throughout the 1907 crisis. While distressed banks suffered substantial withdrawals of foreign funds and liquid domestic liabilities, we show that banks’ asset structures, along with observable fundamentals and institutional characteristics, played a more significant role in their subsequent fate. Higher shares of non-performing assets and lending against equities were the most important balance sheet predictors of distress. These balance sheet fundamentals, as well as over-extended branch networks, significantly shortened the lifespan of Swedish banks in the aftermath of the 1907 crisis.

Keywords: Bank distress; Financial crises; Swedish banks; Lender of last resort; Bank run; Distress predictors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E58 G01 G21 G28 N23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Predictors of Bank Distress: The 1907 Crisis in Sweden (2018)
Working Paper: Predictors of Bank Distress:The 1907 Crisis in Sweden (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:exehis:v:80:y:2021:i:c:s0014498320300826

DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2020.101380

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