Disproportionate Safety Preference and the Innovation of Fintech Shadow Banking

Abstract

There has been a dramatic shift in financial intermediation in the last 10 - 15 years from traditional banks to shadow banks (non-depository institutions that rely on originate-to-distribute lending model). We link this rise to an emerging literature that shows that certain and uncertain utility functions are different with a disproportionate preference for certainty. We show that such a preference plays a role in diverting lending away from the traditional banking model to the shadow banking model. Furthermore, a low interest-rate environment emerges as the key contributing factor in the dramatic rise of shadow banking.