The Effect of the Current Expected Credit Loss Approach on Banks’ Lending during Stress Periods: Evidence from the COVID-19 Recession
研究发现，在COVID-19衰退前采用预期信用损失法的银行，其贷款损失准备增加更多、贷款增长下降更快，尤其在资本不足和贷款质量较低的银行中更为明显，并导致当地失业率上升和复苏放缓。
ABSTRACT In the wake of the financial crisis, policymakers expressed the concern that the incurred loss model delays loan loss recognition to economic stress periods and thereby exacerbates banks’ lending contraction during these periods. Addressing this concern, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-13, which requires large public banks to accrue for loan losses using the current expected credit loss (CECL) approach starting in January 2020. We hypothesize and find that banks that adopted CECL prior to the COVID-19 pandemic increased loan loss provisions and reduced loan growth during the accompanying recession more than other banks. The lending contraction is stronger for adopting banks with low regulatory capital and low loan impairment and is primarily driven by commercial loans. Lastly, we find that counties in which CECL-adopting banks have higher market share experience larger increases in unemployment rates during the recession and slower subsequent recoveries. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: E32; G21; G28; M41; M48.