Prudence as a competitive advantage: On the effects of competition on banksʹ risk-taking incentives

This paper builds on the notion that corporate borrowers care about the overall riskiness of a bankʹs operations as their continued access to credit may depend on the bankʹs ability to roll over loans or to expand existing credit facilities. A key implication of this observation is that increasing competition among banks should have an asymmetric impact on banksʹ incentives to take on risk: Banks that are already riskier will take on yet more risk, while their safer rivals will become even more prudent.