The Effects of Banking Competition on Growth and Financial Stability: Evidence from the National Banking Era
利用19世纪美国国家银行时代资本要求的断点，发现低进入壁垒市场银行信贷更多、促进经济活动，但银行风险更高、更易违约，表明竞争既刺激增长也导致不稳定。
How does banking competition affect credit provision and growth? How does it affect financial stability? In order to identify the causal effects of banking competition, we exploit a discontinuity in bank capital requirements during the nineteenth-century National Banking Era. We show that banks operating in markets with lower entry barriers extend more credit. The resulting credit expansion, in turn, is associated with additional real economic activity. However, banks in markets with lower entry barriers also take more risk and are more likely to default. Thus, we provide causal evidence that banking competition can cause both growth and financial instability.