Research
Research
This paper provides the first evidence of positive bank-to-bank spillovers. I show that geographic linkages between banks that engage in home lending in the same geographic region transmit positive shocks from one bank to another. I exploit shocks to the deposit base of banks located in counties experiencing shale oil booms and show that a non-shocked bank in a non-boom county expands lending more if its linkages have greater exposure to shale booms. Results show that the shock exposure of linkages has a positive impact on home prices of non-boom counties, and non-shocked banks located therein respond with increased lending.
This paper identifies geographic linkages as novel linkages that can transmit negative shocks from one bank to another. I consider linkages between banks that engage in home lending in the same geographic area. Exploiting home price changes initiated by the Great Recession and heterogeneity in such changes across geographic areas to capture variations in a bank’s exposure to negative shocks, I show that a bank contracts lending more if its linkages are more shocked. Results suggest investor-runs as the underlying mechanisms of spillovers: Because similar banks lend in similar markets, investors lose confidence on the quality of banks that are geographically linked with shocked banks and run on them, thus resulting in banks reducing lending.
This paper presents novel evidence that associations through board appointments influence directors’ reputation. Because peers learn from one another, ties to individuals revealed as poor monitors diminish their own perceived monitoring quality. Spillovers occur among directors serving on the same committee. Exploiting negative shocks to outsider perceptions of audit committee directors at firms facing securities fraud litigation, I show that peers sharing audit committee appointments with these directors at other non-shocked firms experience career consequences. Despite no direct exposure to the shock, their likelihood of becoming audit chair or member at home or outside directorships, and of obtaining new directorships declines.