The Macroeconomic Impact of Basel III on the Italian Economy

30 Pages Posted: 23 May 2011

Date Written: February 22, 2011

Abstract

This paper provides an assessment of the costs of complying with Basel III for the Italian economy. The main findings are the following. For each percentage point increase in the capital ratio implemented over an eight-year horizon, the level of GDP would decline by 0.00-0.33% (0.03-0.39% if credit rationing is also accounted for). Compliance with the new liquidity standards imposes a similar burden in that GDP falls at trough by about 0.20%. If banks felt forced to speed up the transition to the new capital standards by the beginning of 2013, the fall in output would be larger and quicker. Long-run costs are even lower, slightly less than 0.2%; those needed to comply with the target liquidity ratio are of a similar size. The above estimates suggest that the economic costs of Basel III are not huge and become negligible if compared with the potential benefits that can be reaped from reducing the frequency of systemic crises and the amplitude of boom-bust cycles.

Keywords: Basel III, Modigliani-Miller theorem, flow/stock costs of equity finance, capital/liquidity requirements

JEL Classification: E44, E61, G21, G38

Suggested Citation

Locarno, Alberto, The Macroeconomic Impact of Basel III on the Italian Economy (February 22, 2011). Bank of Italy Occasional Paper No. 88, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1849870 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1849870

Alberto Locarno (Contact Author)

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
Rome, 00184
Italy

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