Managing Risk Taking with Interest Rate Policy and Macroprudential Regulations
26 Pages Posted: 27 Feb 2019
Date Written: April 2019
Abstract
We develop a model in which a financial intermediary's investment in risky assets—risk taking—is excessive due to limited liability and deposit insurance, and characterize the policies that implement efficient risk taking. In the calibrated model, combining interest rate policy with state‐contingent macroprudential regulations—either capital or leverage regulation, and a tax on profits—achieves efficiency. Interest rate policy mitigates excessive risk taking by altering the return and the supply of collateralizable safe assets. In contrast to commonly used capital regulation, leverage regulation has stronger effects on risk taking and calls for higher interest rates.
JEL Classification: E44, E52, G11, G18
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation