The effect of TARP on bank risk-taking
Lamont K. Black and
Lieu N. Hazelwood
Journal of Financial Stability, 2013, vol. 9, issue 4, 790-803
Abstract:
One of the largest responses of the US government to the recent financial crisis was the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). TARP was originally intended to stabilize the financial sector through the increased capitalization of banks. However, recipients of TARP funds were then encouraged to make additional loans despite increased borrower risk. In this paper, we consider the effect of the TARP capital injections on bank risk-taking by analyzing the risk ratings of banks’ commercial loan originations during the crisis. The results indicate that, relative to non-TARP banks, the risk of loan originations increased at large TARP banks but decreased at small TARP banks. Loan levels also moved in different directions for large and small banks and, in supporting evidence, these effects are evaluated based on loan size and TARP repayment. For large banks, the increase in risk-taking without an increase in lending is suggestive of moral hazard due to government support. These results may also be due to the conflicting goals of the TARP program for bank recapitalization and bank lending.
Keywords: Banking; Government regulation; Macroeconomic stabilization policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E61 G21 G28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (117)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:finsta:v:9:y:2013:i:4:p:790-803
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfs.2012.04.001
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