Bank lending in the knowledge economy

Arbeitspapier

We study the composition of bank loan portfolios during the transition of the real sec-tor to a knowledge economy where firms increasingly use intangible capital. Exploiting heterogeneity in bank exposure to the compositional shift from tangible to intangible capital, we show that exposed banks curtail commercial lending and reallocate lending to other assets, such as mortgages. We estimate that the substantial growth in intangible capital since the mid-1980s explains around 30% of the secular decline in the share of commercial lending in banks' loan portfolios. We provide suggestive evidence that this reallocation increased the riskiness of banks' mortgage lending.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-92-899-4072-6
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ECB Working Paper ; No. 2429

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity ; Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy ; Banks; Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
• Subject: corporate intangible capital ; bank lending ; commercial loans ; real estate loans

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Dell'Ariccia, Giovanni ; Kadyrzhanova, Dalida ; Minoiu, Camelia ; Ratnovski, Lev
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): European Central Bank (ECB)
• (where): Frankfurt a. M.
• (when): 2020

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.2866/497890
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/229043
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET