Risk-taking in banks:Does skin-in-the-game really matter?

The belief that bank capital helps improve stability takes for granted the idea that increases in capital are an incentive to reduce risk-taking because bank owners would have more to lose (skin-in-the-game) if their banks fail. Nevertheless, given the higher cost of capital as compared to debt, it is also possible that increases in capital would lead to higher risk-taking due to the need for banks to boost their returns. In light of these contradictory possibilities, we exploit exogenous variations of capital to empirically investigate the actual effects of capital on risk-taking. Our analyses based on a sample of nearly 1,900 US Banking Holding Companies in the 1990-2020 period indicate that increasing capital actually leads to higher risk-taking, which contradicts the skin-in-the-game hypothesis. We show evidence that this relationship could be explained by the consequent increase in funding costs that creates pressure for better returns, which is normally achieved by means of taking higher risk. Our main findings are robust to a number of alternative model and sample specifications

Liquidity regulation, bank capital ratio and interbank rate

We study the impact of the Basel III liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) on bank capital ratio and the interbank rate in a traditional banking model. We find that inappropriate parameters assigned to calculate High-Quality Liquid Assets (HQLAs) and Net Cash Flows (NCOs) would lower the equilibrium capital ratio especially when the required liquidity ratio is strengthened. In addition, these regulatory parameters may have macro-prudential effects to steer the interbank rate

Does FinTech adoption improve bank performance?

In this paper, we estimate the effect of FinTech activities on bank performance by using data on 355 American banks from 2010 to 2020. Our results show that FinTech plays a significant role in promoting bank performance. Bank performance can be improved by 0.30% when FinTech level is improved by one unit. We also find that the impact of FinTech on bank performance is heterogeneous in terms of bank size and chartered membership. In particular, the influence of FinTech on the leading banks and the State-chartered non-member banks are more significant than on small and medium banks. Thirdly, the development of bank financial technology in every region of the United States is uneven. In addition, we put forward policy suggestions on how FinTech can promote bank performance through four aspects

Dynamical reentrance and geometry imposed quantization effects in Nb-AlOx-Nb Josephson junction arrays

In this paper, we report on different phenomena related to the magnetic properties of artificially prepared highly ordered (periodic) two-dimensional Josephson junction arrays (2D-JJA) of both shunted and unshunted Nb-AlOx-Nb tunnel junctions. By employing mutual-inductance measurements and using a high-sensitive bridge, we have thoroughly investigated (both experimentally and theoretically) the temperature and magnetic field dependence of complex AC susceptibility of 2D-JJA. We also demonstrate the use of the scanning SQUID microscope for imaging the local flux distribution within our unshunted arrays

Lesões pré-malignas do esôfago e câncer precoce: considerações sobre o tratamento

Esophageal cancer is epidemiologically important in our community. Alcohol consumption, tobacco use, and gastroesophageal reflux are among the well-establishedrisk factors for the development of cancer. Predisposing conditions such as Barrett’s esophagus, achalasia, caustic strictures and pre-malignant lesions of the esophaguslead to a higher risk for esophageal cancer and, thus, require increased attention. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of these conditions may yield an increase in survival rates and a decrease in morbidity and mortality. The objective of this paper is to present a few considerations on the modalities of treatment for precursor lesions and superficial cancer.O câncer de esôfago é uma doença epidemiologicamente importante em nosso meio. O consumo de álcool, o tabagismo e o refluxo gastroesofágico estão entre os fatores de risco bem estabelecidos para o desenvolvimento de câncer. As condições prédeterminantes como o esôfago de Barrett, acalasia, estreitamento cáustico e lesões pré-malignas do esôfago apresentam um risco mais elevado para o câncer de esôfago. Estas lesões, portanto, merecem uma maior atenção. O diagnóstico precoce e o tratamento imediato podem permitir uma melhora na sobrevida e uma redução na morbidade e na mortalidade. Este trabalho apresenta algumas considerações a respeitodas modalidades de tratamento de lesões precursoras e câncer superficial