Auteurs : Jean-Charles Bricongne, Mathilde Dufouleur
Discutants: Elena Dumitrescu (sénior) et Pablo Aguilar Perez (junior)
Abstract:
This paper sheds new light on law and finance in the post-crisis period by studying the impact of insolvency regimes on non-performing loans. Using a novel database on European transparency exercise data over 2015-2020, our results, based on fixed effects panel specifications, provide an innovative view of the impact of economic and institutional factors on the quality of banks’ loan portfolios. They confirm and capture more precisely the influence of economic cycle indicators like the GDP growth rate and unemployment and shed new light on the importance of the insolvency framework in discussions about loan quality. Unlike prior studies, the specification used, which varies destination at bank level, makes it possible to disentangle the impact of macro factors, institutional quality and bank characteristics. The impact of insolvency regimes, is found to be favourable for bank non-performing loans and, more broadly, for financial stability.
