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Dissertation Committee:
Petr Zemčík (chair)
Jan Hanousek (local chair)
Štěpán Jurajda
Sergey Slobodyan

Abstract:

This dissertation consists of three chapters that empirically investigate questions of increasing relevance in the banking risk and financial economics literature. The first chapter studies bank risk in the context of its joint determination with bank liquidity and capital in the Eurozone. The second chapter examines the banks' appetite for risk using the comprehensive credit register of the Czech National Bank. Finally, the last chapter refers to model risk and analyzes the ability of the selected term structure models to value the interest rate swaps in the Polish market.

The first chapter analyzes the coordination of bank risk, liquidity and capital in the presence of securitization. Its outcome contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of the banking regulations. My findings with regard to the simultaneity of capital and risk decisions are consistent with previous empirical studies. Incorporation of bank liquidity permits me to establish the presence of the coordination of risk and liquidity decisions. At the same time, I find no evidence of the direct joint determination of capital and liquidity. Finally, the first chapter partially confirms the theoretical implications of Repullo (2005).

The second chapter, coauthored with Adam Geršl, Petr Jakubík, Steven Ongena and José-Luis Peydró, addresses the question of banks' appetite for risk. In particular, we examine the impact of monetary conditions on the risk-taking behaviour of banks in the Czech Republic. Our duration analysis indicates that expansionary monetary conditions promote risk-taking among banks. At the same time, a lower interest rate during the life of a loan reduces its riskiness.

The third chapter refers to model risk and analyzes the performance of the selected term structure models when valuing interest rate swaps in the Polish market. The Nelson-Siegel, cubic interpolation and CIR models generate adequate fit and transaction values similar to the realized contract values. The ample performance of the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model suggests the rate-reliant nature of the interest rate volatility. The underperformance of Vasicek's emphasizes the role of the cross section of interest rates, and thus the importance of a no-arbitrage argument. Finally, the ex-post accuracy of the Nelson-Siegel and the cubic spline models indicates that a current cross-section of the yield curve is highly informative for the future.

Full Text: “Essays on Finance and Risk” by Dorota Kowalczyk

Dissertation Committee:
Jan Hanousek (chair)
Alena Bičáková
Randall K. Filer
Štěpán Jurajda
Evžen Kočenda

Abstract:

The financial crises in the early 2000s have given prominence to the financial markets' exposure to credit risk. To minimize credit risk, the risk that a borrower will fail to meet her contractual obligations, lenders seek to identify borrowers with a high probability of default prior to granting credit. In my dissertation I examine several screening devices that lenders utilize in alleviating adverse selection present on the credit market. In the first chapter, I ask whether the existence of informal collateral signals better loan repayment. Taking advantage of a unique dataset of household loans from a Czech commercial bank, I find that housing loans without lien on the property default less compared to loans with unspecified purpose. I also show that the interest rate differential between specific purpose loans and unspecified purpose loans is systematically higher than their default rate differential. In the second chapter, I investigate the role of loan contract terms in household loan demand and performance. Utilizing a sample of accepted and rejected Czech household loans, I find that loan demand for low-income borrowers is more sensitive to liquidity constraint and loan maturity changes than to interest rate changes. The results also suggest that by reflecting the borrower's riskiness in the interest rate, lenders discourage risky borrowers from obtaining short-term loans and this might then lead to their higher default probability. Finally, in the third chapter, I focus on credit ratings of financial/non-financial institutions that issued debt. The paper identifies the determinants of credit rating changes by the two incumbent rating agencies: S&P and Moody's. I show that there is a statistically significant difference in the rating evaluations of the two incumbent credit rating agencies, and that Fitch's increasing market share deepens the rating splits between S&P and Moody's. The results also suggest that sovereign ceilings ceased to be restrictive for non-financial institutions throughout the recent financial crises, and that S&P is a follower in its rating actions when compared to Moody's.

Full Text: “Essays on Credit Risk” by Gabriela Kuvíková