The consequent decline in credit to speculators, however, was mitigated both by entry of corporate investors and because banks began holding more of these loans. By increasing bank exposure to local risk, this move reduced banks’ willingness to supply both jumbo mortgages and small business loans. Our empirical design fully accounts for risks at the balance sheet level. Banks thus manage credit not only in a macro sense — the focus of most research — but also market by market.

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