Valuable bank charters have been hypothesized to provide bank managers self
-regulatory incentives to constrain their risk taking. However, this paper
presents evidence that charter value itself may derive from high-risk activ
ities, indicating that minimizing risk taking also would limit the value of
the charter. During economic expansions, bank charter values increase to r
eflect growth opportunities. In turn, high-charter-value banks gain easier
access to equity capital sources for expansion. The result is a positive re
lationship between charter value and capital ratios during expansions. Howe
ver, this relationship may invert during economic contractions. Panel regre
ssions demonstrate that the charter value and bank leverage relationship is
sensitive to market conditions.