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Testing the Modigliani-Miller Theorem of Capital Structure Irrelevance for Banks

Author

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  • William R. Cline

    (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

Abstract
Some advocates of far higher capital requirements for banks invoke the Modigliani-Miller theorem as grounds for judging that associated costs would be minimal. The M&M theorem holds that the average cost of capital to the firm is independent of capital structure, because any reduction in capital cost from switching to higher leverage using lower-cost debt is exactly offset by an induced increase in the unit cost of higher-cost equity capital as a consequence of the associated rise in risk. Statistical tests for large US banks in 2002–13 find that less than half of this M&M offset attains in practice. Higher capital requirements would thus impose increases in lending costs, with associated output costs from lower capital formation. These costs to the economy would need to be compared with benefits from lower risk of banking crises to arrive at optimal levels of capital requirements.

Suggested Citation

  • William R. Cline, 2015. "Testing the Modigliani-Miller Theorem of Capital Structure Irrelevance for Banks," Working Paper Series WP15-8, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp15-8
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. David Grossmann & Peter Scholz, 2017. "Bank Regulation: One Size Does Not Fit All," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(5), pages 1-1.
    2. Michele Fratianni, 2017. "It is time to separate money banks from credit banks in Italy," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 138, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    3. Emmanuel Kukah Damina & Taiwo Muritala & Abbas Umar Ibrahim, 2022. "Effect of Speed of Adjustments on Capital Structure Decision: A Conceptual Analysis," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 12(6), pages 15-21, November.
    4. Belinda Cheung & Sebastien Printant, 2019. "Australian Money Market Divergence: Arbitrage Opportunity or Illusion?," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2019-09, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    5. McInerney, Niall & O'Brien, Martin & Wosser, Michael & Zavalloni, Luca, 2022. "Rightsizing Bank Capital for Small, Open Economies," Research Technical Papers 4/RT/22, Central Bank of Ireland.
    6. Clark, Brian & Jones, Jonathan & Malmquist, David, 2023. "Leverage and the cost of capital for U.S. banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. William R. Cline, 2016. "Benefits and Costs of Higher Capital Requirements for Banks," Working Paper Series WP16-6, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    8. Georg Junge & Peter Kugler, 2018. "Optimal equity capital requirements for large Swiss banks," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 154(1), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Pietro Alessandrini & Michele Fratianni & Luca Papi & Alberto Zazzaro, 2016. "Banks, regions and development after the crisis and under the new regulatory system," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 124, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    10. Claudio Albanese & Marc Chataigner & Stéphane Crépey, 2020. "Wealth Transfers, Indifference Pricing, and XVA Compression Schemes," Post-Print hal-03910047, HAL.
    11. David Haritone Shikumo & Oluoch Oluoch & Joshua Matanda Wepukhulu, 2023. "Financial Structure, Firm Size and Financial Growth of Non-Financial Firms Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange," Papers 2303.10910, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial Regulation; Bank Capital Requirements; Capital Structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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