IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/eabhps/2201.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Politicians, bankers and the Great Depression: The Spanish banking crisis of 1931

Author

Listed:
  • Jorge-Sotelo, Enrique

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on moral hazard, lending of last resort and the political origins of banking crises. Drawing on newly accessed quantitative and qualitative archival sources the paper documents how a bank - Banco de Cataluña - formed a coalition with the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-30) in order to depart from the framework of "constructive ambiguity" that characterized central bank lending of last resort in Spain. As a result, the bank developed a uniquely risky portfolio and incurred in insider lending to internationally exposed firms at the onset of the Great Depression. The fall of the Dictatorship and democratic transition, the collapse of international trade, and global deflation during 1929-31 made fragilities emerge causing the bank to fail.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge-Sotelo, Enrique, 2022. "Politicians, bankers and the Great Depression: The Spanish banking crisis of 1931," eabh Papers 22-01, The European Association for Banking and Financial History (EABH).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:eabhps:2201
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/265141/1/1818032465.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefano Battilossi, 2009. "Did governance fail universal banks? Moral hazard, risk taking, and banking crises in interwar Italy1," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 62(s1), pages 101-134, August.
    2. Colvin, Christopher L. & de Jong, Abe & Fliers, Philip T., 2015. "Predicting the past: Understanding the causes of bank distress in the Netherlands in the 1920s," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 97-121.
    3. Enrique Jorge-Sotelo, 2020. "The limits to lender of last resort interventions in emerging economies: evidence from the Gold Standard and the Great Depression in Spain," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 24(1), pages 98-133.
    4. Felipe González & Mounu Prem, 2020. "Losing your dictator: firms during political transition," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 227-257, June.
    5. Emmanuelle Nys & Amine Tarazi & Irwan Trinugroho, 2013. "Political Connections, Bank Deposits, and Formal Deposit Insurance: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Working Papers hal-00916513, HAL.
    6. Francisco Manuel Parejo Moruno, 2010. "El negocio del corcho en España durante el siglo XX," Estudios de Historia Económica, Banco de España, number 57, November.
    7. James,Harold & Lindgren,Hekan & Teichova,Alice (ed.), 1991. "The Role of Banks in the Interwar Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521394376, October.
    8. Tobias Straumann & Peter Kugler & Florian Weber, 2017. "How the German crisis of 1931 swept across Europe: a comparative view from Stockholm," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 70(1), pages 224-247, February.
    9. Sabine Schneider, 2022. "The politics of last resort lending and the Overend & Gurney crisis of 1866," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(2), pages 579-600, May.
    10. María Soledad Martínez-Peria & Sergio Schmukler, 2002. "Do Depositors Punish Banks for Bad Behavior? Market Discipline, Deposit Insurance, and Banking Crises," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Leonardo Hernández & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Se (ed.),Banking, Financial Integration, and International Crises, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 5, pages 143-174, Central Bank of Chile.
    11. Branco, Amélia & Parejo, Francisco M., 2008. "Incentives or obstacles? institutional aspects of the cork business in the Iberian Peninsula (1930–1975)," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 17-43, January.
    12. Macher, Flora, 2018. "The Austrian banking crisis of 1931: one bad apple spoils the whole bunch," Economic History Working Papers 87151, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    13. Charles Goodhart, 1988. "The Evolution of Central Banks," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262570734, April.
    14. Macher, Flora, 2018. "The Austrian banking crisis of 1931: a reassessment," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 297-321, December.
    15. Harold James, 1984. "The Causes of the German Banking Crisis of 1931," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 37(1), pages 68-87, February.
    16. Stefano Ugolini, 2017. "The Evolution of Central Banking: Theory and History," Palgrave Studies in Economic History, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-48525-0, December.
    17. Xavier Freixas & Jean-Charles Rochet & Bruno M. Parigi, 2004. "The Lender of Last Resort: A Twenty-First Century Approach," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(6), pages 1085-1115, December.
    18. Nys, Emmanuelle & Tarazi, Amine & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2015. "Political connections, bank deposits, and formal deposit insurance," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 83-104.
    19. Xavier Freixas, 1999. "Optimal bail out policy, conditionality and constructive ambiguity," Economics Working Papers 400, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Trinugroho, Irwan & Pamungkas, Putra & Ariefianto, Mochammad Doddy & Tarazi, Amine, 2020. "Deposit structure, market discipline, and ownership type: Evidence from Indonesia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(2).
    2. Alamsyah, Halim & Ariefianto, Moch. Doddy & Saheruddin, Herman & Wardono, Seto & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2020. "Depositors’ trust: Some empirical evidence from Indonesia," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    3. Anastasiou, Dimitrios & Katsafados, Apostolos G., 2020. "Bank Deposits Flows and Textual Sentiment: When an ECB President's speech is not just a speech," MPRA Paper 99729, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Clemens Jobst & Kilian Rieder, 2023. "Supervision without regulation: Discount limits at the Austro–Hungarian Bank, 1909–13," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1074-1109, November.
    5. Quintero-V, Juan C., 2023. "Deposit insurance and market discipline," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Aldy Fariz Achsanta & Tastaftiyan Risfandy & Putra Pamungkas & Irwan Trinugroho & Herman Saheruddin, 2021. "Related bank deposits: Good or bad for stability?," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(4), pages 735-751, December.
    7. Marco Molteni & Dario Pellegrino, 2021. "Lessons from the Early Establishment of Banking Supervision in Italy (1926-1936)," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 48, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    8. Dimitris Anastasiou & Apostolos Katsafados, 2023. "Bank deposits and textual sentiment: When an European Central Bank president's speech is not just a speech," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 91(1), pages 55-87, January.
    9. Anastasiou, Dimitrios & Drakos, Konstantinos, 2021. "European depositors’ behavior and crisis sentiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 117-136.
    10. Giang Phung & Michael Troege, 2024. "Making depositors greedy and careless: Government safety nets and the degradation of depositor discipline," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 921-947, July.
    11. Vincent Bignon & Marc Flandreau & Stefano Ugolini, 2012. "Bagehot for beginners: the making of lender‐of‐last‐resort operations in the mid‐nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(2), pages 580-608, May.
    12. Pejman Ebrahimi & Maria Fekete-Farkas & Parisa Bouzari & Róbert Magda, 2021. "Financial Performance of Iranian Banks from 2013 to 2019: A Panel Data Approach," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, June.
    13. Rob Nijskens & Sylvester Eijffinger, 2011. "The Lender of Last Resort: Liquidity Provision versus the Possibility of Bailout," Chapters, in: Sylvester Eijffinger & Donato Masciandaro (ed.), Handbook of Central Banking, Financial Regulation and Supervision, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Sissoko, Carolyn & Ishizu, Mina, 2021. "How the West India trade fostered last resort lending by the Bank of England," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108565, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Koen Schoors & Konstantin Sonin, 2005. "Passive Creditors," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 57-86, March.
    16. Meslier, Céline & Risfandy, Tastaftiyan & Tarazi, Amine, 2017. "Dual market competition and deposit rate setting in Islamic and conventional banks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 318-333.
    17. Janbaz, Mehdi & Hassan, M. Kabir & Floreani, Josanco & Dreassi, Alberto & Jiménez, Alfredo, 2022. "Political risk in banks: A review and agenda," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    18. Patrick K. O'Brien & Nuno Palma, 2023. "Not an ordinary bank but a great engine of state: The Bank of England and the British economy, 1694–1844," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(1), pages 305-329, February.
    19. Ongena, Steven & Atmaca, Sümeyra & Kirschenmann, Karolin & Schoors, Koen, 2020. "Deposit Insurance, Bank Ownership and Depositor Behavior," CEPR Discussion Papers 15547, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Laurent Le Maux, 2021. "Bagehot for Central Bankers," Working Papers Series inetwp147, Institute for New Economic Thinking.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    moral hazard; lender of last resort; Great Depression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N24 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: 1913-
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:eabhps:2201. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eabhhea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.