We study whether a bank’s internal capital market allocates capital efficiently across branches. Using a large-scale randomized pricing experiment on approximately 50,000 loan applications, we identify the marginal return on capital for each branch group—the change in profit per dollar of capital allocated. We find that total lending is close to its optimal scale, but marginal returns are not equalized across branch groups, implying potential reallocation gains of 8.4% of profits. The bank’s uniform pricing policy—charging the same spread across all branches conditional on credit score—impedes price-based reallocation.

Please note that this seminar will take place in a hybrid mode (the seminar will take place at the Banque de France Conference Center, 31 Rue Croix de Petits Champs, 75001 Paris, and will also be streamed online via Teams).

(Free) registration (for both in person or online participation) is compulsory by mail at chaireACPR@acpr.banque-france.fr

If you opt for online participation, the connection details will be sent to you in the following days.

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Updated on the 10th of November 2026