REVENUE DIVERSIFICATION AND BANKING RISK: DOES THE STATE OWNERSHIP MATTER? EVIDENCE FROM AN EMERGING MARKET

Abstract

Our paper investigates the influence of state ownership on the linkage between revenue diversification and risk of Vietnam domestic commercial banks in the period 2009–2018. By using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation for a dynamic panel model, the empirical results indicate that Vietnamese domestic commercial banks with higher state equity are promoted to take more risks in the revenue diversification process. Our findings are robustly checked by a variety of measures of banking risk, income diversification, and state equity. Empirical results from our dynamic model are not only accordant with the previous findings of Batten and Vo [(2016). Bank risk shifting and diversification in an emerging market. Risk Management, 18(4), 217–235] estimated by Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression on the positive relationship between banking risk and income diversification in Vietnamese domestic commercial banks but also provide new evidence on the tradeoff relationship between risk-return in the operating strategy of Vietnamese state-owned banks in the post-financial crisis. This paper proposes a framework for evaluating the nexus between revenue diversification and risk from the state ownership aspect in other frontier markets.