The Persistence of Bank Profit

Abstract

This paper examines the strength of competition in 65 national banking industries. Country-level dynamic panel estimates of the persistence of bank profit are reported and compared. The persistence of bank profit appears to be weaker for banks in developing countries than for those in developed countries. Persistence is relatively high in North America and Western Europe and relatively low in East Asia, the Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa. The persistence of profit is stronger when entry barriers are high, and when competition is low according to both structure- and conduct-based competition indicators.