Bank profitability and risk‐taking under low interest rates
研究低利率环境如何影响美国银行业的盈利性和风险承担，发现低利率压缩净息差但银行通过减少拨备维持利润，这可能危及金融稳定。
Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of the unusually low interest rate environment on the soundness of the United States banking sector in terms of profitability and risk‐taking. Using both dynamic and static modelling approaches and various estimation techniques, we find that the low interest rate environment indeed impairs bank performance and compresses net interest margins. Nonetheless, banks have been able to maintain their overall level of profits, due to lower provisioning, which in turn may endanger financial stability. Banks did not compensate for their lower interest income by expanding operations to include trading activities with a higher risk exposure.