What is the relationship between bank capital, the risk of a financial crisis, and its severity? This article introduces the first comprehensive analysis of the long-run evolution of the capital structure of modern banking using newly constructed data for banks’ balance sheets in 17 countries since 1870. In addition to establishing stylized facts on the changing funding mix of banks, we study the nexus between capital structure and financial instability. We find no association between higher capital and lower risk of banking crisis. However, economies with better capitalized banking systems recover faster from financial crises as credit begins to flow back more readily.

中文翻译：

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银行资本救助：偿付能力，流动性和危机

银行资本，金融危机的风险及其严重程度之间有什么关系？本文介绍了自1870年以来使用17个国家/地区的银行资产负债表的最新数据对现代银行业资本结构的长期演变进行的首次全面分析。除了建立关于银行融资结构不断变化的典型事实外，我们还提供研究资本结构与金融不稳定之间的联系。我们发现较高的资本与较低的银行危机风险之间没有关联。但是，随着信贷开始更容易回流，拥有完善资本的银行体系的经济体可以从金融危机中更快地恢复过来。