Bank-specific Characteristics Research Articles

Factors influencing bank profitability in a developing economy- Panel evidence from Bangladesh

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between bank-specific characteristics and profitability of commercial banks operating in Bangladesh to find the role of both internal and external factors in achieving high profitability. The Fixed Effect Model is built on a balanced panel data set comprising 135 observations of 27 commercial banks over the period 2014-2018. Regression findings reveal that size and capital ratio are significant bank-specific determinants of bank profitability in Bangladesh where the effect of loans ratio is statistically insignificant. Findings also suggest that banks with higher deposits tend to be more profitable and small banks have efficient management. The cost to income ratio and loan loss provisions are statistically insignificant on the performance of banks. On the other hand, macroeconomic variables such as GDP growth have a significant impact on profitability whereas the effects of inflation on profitability are statistically insignificant in some cases.

What drives the performance of different bank-ownership types in Indonesia? The pre- and post-GFC analysis

PurposeThe Indonesian banks play crucial roles in the economy, especially because of less developed bond and stock markets. It has undergone drastic changes in bank-ownership composition over time. This paper aims to analyze the impact of bank-specific characteristics on the performance of different bank-ownership types in Indonesia to determine whether their profitability drivers differ.Design/methodology/approachFixed-effect panel data regression is applied to 1,649 bank-year observations (97 banks throughout 2003–2019). It encompasses the pre- and post-global financial crisis (GFC) period.FindingsThe findings show that age, liquidity, equity and credit risk are significant determinants of bank performance. The significance of these effects differs for each bank-ownership type and show changes between the pre-GFC and post-GFC periods.Research limitations/implicationsNotwithstanding the merit of this paper, the results are not without limitations. This paper only focuses on one country. Furthermore, the prominence of banks relative to bond and stock markets with consideration of the GDP of countries may result in different findingsPractical implicationsThese findings provide the owners and managers of banks with information that can be applied to compare and assess own bank drivers and performance to enhance their own efficiency. The findings also inform bank authorities and regulators about differences in performance drivers that could be considered in changes to policies aimed at improving the performance of different bank-ownership types.Originality/valueThis paper is a pioneer study that focuses on the drivers of bank performance for different ownership types during the pre- and post-GFC periods in a country where the financial market is overall small and bank credits dominate capital supply.

When the banking gets tough, the large get going: How capital regulation is driving consolidation

In response to the Global Financial Crisis (2007-2009), the capital regulation was significantly enhanced through the adoption of regulatory measures aimed to improve the resilience of banks, among others, by increasing the required quantity and quality of capital held. Particular emphasis was placed on addressing the “too-big-to-fail” problem seeking to reduce the incentives for large banks to become ever larger and more systemically relevant. The present paper examines whether the banks’ size affects the level of applicable capital requirements and the amount of (CET1) capital that banks are required to hold. Based on an analysis of the capital requirements for 108 ECB-supervised banks, it is demonstrated that the arrangements governing the calibration of the bank-specific elements of capital requirements (i.e. Pillar 2 Requirement, systemic buffer, Pillar 2 Guidance), as well as other bank-specific characteristics relevant to capital requirements (i.e. banks’ ability to issue AT1 and Tier 2 instruments, RW density) tend to favour G-SIBs and other large banks with assets exceeding €200bn. On average, G-SIBs are subject to a CET1 requirement of c. 3pp lower than banks with assets less than €30bn, mainly due to the fact that they take advantage of the AT1 and Tier 2 allowances granted by CRR/CRDV. Also, given that large banks have a significantly lower RW density, for every billion of assets held, the amount of CET1 capital that G-SIBs are required to hold is nearly half the amount that small banks must keep under the applicable capital requirements. The discrepancies relating to the approach for the determination of the systemic buffer (i.e. highest of G-SII buffer, O-SII buffer, or systemic risk buffer), which is still determined at national level, contribute to the creation of an unlevel playing field in the Banking Union, as banks with similar asset size and systemic relevance are treated in a different manner because they are located in different Member States. Therefore, the SSMR should be amended to transfer the competence for the determination of the systemic buffer to the ECB to ensure that the Banking Union will be treated as a single jurisdiction and the determination of the systemic buffer will be made based on uniform conditions. As demonstrated in this analysis, the capital regulation functions as an incentive, rather than as an obstacle, to the further increase of banks’ size. In light of the need for further consolidation of the banking sector in the Banking Union, banks subject to lower (CET1) capital requirements, as is the case for large banks, need less CET1 capital to finance potential M&As, mostly by leveraging on their ability to tap capital markets for AT1 and Tier 2 issuances. Thus, from a capital requirements perspective, large banks have every incentive to expand their operations, either on domestic or cross-border basis, at the expense of smaller banks.

Bank Profitability Determinants: Firm-Level Observations in the ASEAN-5 Markets

This paper aims to investigate the bank-specific characteristics and macroeconomic factors affecting the profitability performance of the Southeast Asian banking sector. The sample markets cover the five original members of ASEAN, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, whereas the sample period encompasses the years between 2010 and 2017. While a healthy financial system is important for the economic sustainability and growth, there are still limited studies to understand how banks generally perform in this region. Our findings largely support the existing hypotheses about the importance of certain micro- and macro variables while contributing new empirical evidence to the current literature. The bank size, loan to assets, loan loss provision, non-interest incomes and expenses, and capital adequacy remain relevant in influencing bank profitability in the ASEAN-5 region. Macroeconomic variables of inflation, interest rate, market concentration and GDP per capita play considerable roles in profitability when they are assessed separately from the bank-specific factors. It is worth noting that the bank-level factors remain important and outplay the macroeconomic factors when they are considered at the same time. The result robustness is of a certain level of satisfaction because comparisons have been performed across individual countries and across different regression models of pooled ordinary least squares model, random effect model, and fixed effect model for all the tentative tests. Both the return on assets and return on equity are examined. Combining both micro- and macroeconomic variables in the regressions also indicates an overall improvement in the r-squared under the same models.

Machine learning approach to drivers of bank lending: evidence from an emerging economy

The study analyzes the performance of bank-specific characteristics, macroeconomic indicators, and global factors to predict the bank lending in Turkey for the period 2002Q4–2019Q2. The objective of this study is first, to clarify the possible nonlinear and nonparametric relationships between outstanding bank loans and bank-specific, macroeconomic, and global factors. Second, it aims to propose various machine learning algorithms that determine drivers of bank lending and benefits from the advantages of these techniques. The empirical findings indicate favorable evidence that the drivers of bank lending exhibit some nonlinearities. Additionally, partial dependence plots depict that numerous bank-specific characteristics and macroeconomic indicators tend to be important variables that influence bank lending behavior. The study’s findings have some policy implications for bank managers, regulatory authorities, and policymakers.

How do bank characteristics affect the bank liquidity creation channel of monetary policy?

The paper examines how monetary policy affects bank liquidity creation, particularly highlighting the asymmetric effects induced by bank-specific characteristics. Using a sample of Vietnamese commercial banks during 2008–2018, we confirm the existence of the bank liquidity creation channel of monetary policy. We further document the conditionality on this new banking channel that liquidity creation rises more among smaller and more liquid banks amid monetary policy easing. These findings call for the focus of regulators on monitoring monetary policy and bank characteristics to shape the functioning of the bank liquidity creation channel.

The impact of prudential toolkits on loan growth in Central and Eastern European banking systems

This paper examines the effects of prudential policy on loan growth in 11 Central and Eastern European banking systems, spanning the period from 2000 to 2015. Based on the measures taken by the authorities of our sample countries, we build several prudential indices. Additionally, we control for the effects of several country-specific factors and bank-specific characteristics. Finally, we test the homogeneity of these effects, accounting for cycle, ownership, and bank effects. Generally, the empirical findings reveal a negative correlation between prudential toolkits and credit growth, with a conspicuous impact for tools targeting lending activity. We see that the effects of a change in the lending framework on loan growth are heterogeneous when we account for crisis and cycle patterns. Furthermore, the interaction between ownership and crisis reveals that, in normal times, foreign banks recorded higher loan growth compared to domestic banks. The opposite is true in turbulent times. The analysis of interactions between credit-based measures and bank-specific variables show that the effects of prudential actions depend on the bank size and leverage.

Capital structure and profitability: Panel data evidence of private banks in Ethiopia

The paper primarily studied the empirical relationship between capital structure, as measured by total and short-term debt ratios, and profitability of private banks in Ethiopia, for the period 2013/14 to 2018/19, using panel fixed effects. A survey of 16 private banks are included in the study. Based on the regression analysis results, capital structure variables and some bank-specific characteristics explain a substantial part of the variations in bank profitability. Higher profitability measures of ROA and net interest margin tend to be associated with relatively higher total and short-term debt ratios, loan to deposit ratios, and credit risks. Besides, older banks are in a better position than younger counterparts in terms of profitability. The impact of size is found to be significantly negative, at least for the ROA model, implying that Ethiopian private banks are operating below their optimal capacity. Mixed results were found pertaining the coefficient estimates of cos–income ratio and employee productivity.

Measuring systemic risk of the Chinese banking industry: A wavelet-based quantile regression approach

In systemic risk measure, a large amount of literature has emerged, but few of them take into account the multi-scale natures of financial data. Considering these natures, we develop a novel W-QR-CoVaR method to measure systemic risk. To be specific, the W-QR-CoVaR method combines the wavelet multiresolution analysis (MRA) with the conditional value-at-risk (CoVaR) method based on the quantile regression (QR) framework. We then apply it to measure the systemic risk in the Chinese banking industry covering the period from September 2007 to September 2018. Our experiment results show that the hybrid W-QR-CoVaR method performs better than the traditional CoVaR method in terms of predictive accuracy. Furthermore, we also explore the relation between the systemic risk contribution of each individual bank and the bank-specific characteristics. Size and leverage appear to be the most robustness determinants. The findings suggest that regulators should pay more attention to the banks with smaller size and higher leverage.

How Efficient Are Indian Banks in Managing the Risk-Return Trade-Off? An Empirical Analysis

Risk taking is an inherent element of the banking business. Banks make conscious decisions regarding risk taking as they expect to make more return if they take more risk. The primary objective of this study is to empirically investigate the efficiency of Indian banks in generating return relative to the risk they take. If the efficiency measurement is not adjusted for different risk preferences, then a bank earning lower return at lower risk may be misclassified as less efficient compared to peers earning the same level of return, but operating at a higher level of risk. This paper uses measures of liquidity risk, credit risk, market risk, and insolvency risk to develop a risk-return stochastic frontier in order to examine the risk efficiency of banks, a novel attempt in the Indian context. The paper further analyzes the efficiency of banks with respect to bank specific characteristics and risk management regimes. The models are estimated using data from a sample of 47 major banks for the period 2009–2018. The study reveals that Indian banks, on average, exhibited lower efficiency in trading risk against return during the sample period.

The agency problem revisited: a structural analysis of managerial productivity and CEO compensation in large US commercial banks

The paper analyzes performance, incentives, and the inefficiencies that may arise due to agency problems and market power using a newly developed panel of large US commercial banks that have too-big-to-fail nature. We use a structural model to characterize managerial efficiency, which complements technical efficiency in standard stochastic frontier models. We incorporate managerial decisions, bank-specific characteristics, and market competition in deriving managerial efficiency. Data on the 50 largest commercial banks in the USA during 2000 and 2017 are collected from the Call Reports and are matched with CEO compensation from S&P’s ExecuComp database. The paper connects empirical evidence with economic theory and contributes to the literature on efficiency and management. The ultimate goal is to better understand the linkages among managerial performance, CEO compensation, and the size and scope of bank operations. Current results point to robust empirical findings. Economies of scale have steadily declined throughout the period and are not positively related to managerial performance and CEO compensation. The size of a bank does not seem to be justified by the evidence in that larger banks offer larger bonuses and tend to have lower managerial efficiency and diminishing scale economies.

CoMap: Mapping Contagion in the Euro Area Banking Sector

This paper presents a novel approach to investigate and model the network of euro area banks’ large exposures within the global banking system. Drawing on a unique dataset, the paper, for the first time, documents the degree of interconnectedness and systemic risk of the euro area banking system based on bilateral linkages. We then develop a Contagion Mapping (CoMap) methodology to study contagion potential of an exogenous default shock via counterparty credit and funding risks. We construct contagion and vulnerability indices measuring respectively the systemic importance of banks and their degree of fragility. Decomposing the results into the respective contributions of credit and funding shocks provides insights to the nature of contagion which can be used to calibrate bank-specific capital and liquidity requirements and large exposures limits. We empirically confirm that tipping points shifting the euro area banking system from a less vulnerable state to a highly vulnerable state are a non-linear function of the combination of network structures and bank-specific characteristics.

Systemic risk of China’s commercial banks during financial turmoils in 2010-2020: A MIDAS-QR based CoVaR approach

ABSTRACT To evaluate the systemic risk of China’s commercial banks during financial turmoils in 2010–2020, we develop a MIDAS-QR-CoVaR approach. It can exploit rich information contained in high-frequency data and helps to pick up tail risk accurately and timely. The empirical results demonstrate the superiority of MIDAS-QR-CoVaR, which has smaller failure times and average errors than the commonly used DCC-GARCH-CoVaR and QR-CoVaR approaches. Moreover, we observe elevated systemic risk during the financial turmoils. Notably, there is a sharp increase corresponding to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. While some signs of recovery can be observed at the end of sample, which proves the effectiveness of the Chinese governments response. In addition, the results highlight the importance of macroeconomic factors and bank-specific characteristics in determining systemic risk. These provide regulators with useful insights and guidelines for systemic risk management.

Does country governance and bank productivity Nexus matters?

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of country governance and other potential bank-specific characteristics and macroeconomic condition determinants on bank productivity in the period of 2006–2016.Design/methodology/approachThe productivity level of total 167 banks selected from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore are evaluated using the data envelopment analysis-based Malmquist productivity index method. A panel regression analysis framework based on ordinary least squares, a fixed effect and a random effect models then are used to identify its main determinants.FindingsThe empirical findings indicate that the total factor productivity changes of Islamic banks is higher than conventional banks. The liquidity and global financial crisis influence both banks’ productivity. Bank size, credit risk, market power, management efficiency and inflation merely influence Islamic banks’ productivity. On the country governance dimensions, voice and accountability are found to positively influence both banks’ productivity. Regulatory quality and rule of law (RL) significantly influences the conventional parts. Political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, RL and control of corruption negatively influence the banks’ productivity, but this influence is only significant for the Islamic banks.Originality/valueCountry governance has received surprisingly little attention in the banking industry over the past few decades. Majority of the studies that examine the effect of governance on bank performance have focused more on the micro governance dimension. Thus, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, no study has been done to address the effect of country governance on the productivity of the Islamic and conventional banks.

Bank-Specific Attributes and Operational Efficiency: Evidence from Efficient-Structure Hypothesis

Corporate stakeholders are concerned about the operational efficiency of banks for obvious reasons. Banks play important intermediation role between the deficit and surplus sectors of the economy. Yet, there are limited empirical studies in Nigeria that examine the effects of bank attributes on their operational efficiency. This paper is an attempt to bridge this empirical gap in finance literature in Nigeria by examining the effects of bank-specific characteristics on operational efficiency. Data was extracted from the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The dependent variable is operational efficiency and the independent variables are bank-specific attributes. The regression models indicate that asset turnover is superior to operating expenses to sales ratio. The results further indicate that only profitability, leverage, intellectual capital and capital expenditure ratio show significant effects. In view of these results, we suggest that bank managers should pay greater attention to profit, total assets, debt structure, intellectual capital (human, structural, relational and capital employed), cash from operations and capital expenditures. This is one of the few empirical studies that examine the impact of bank-specific traits on bank operational efficiency in Nigeria. The paper considers that the influences of bank-specific features on their operational efficiency are worth studying.

The supply side of product differentiation in the Italian mortgage market

PurposeThis paper aims to propose a new indicator of product differentiation in the mortgage market and use it to examine how the double crisis, local market competition and bank-specific characteristics have influenced the supply of non-conventional mortgages in Italy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a special Bank of Italy’s survey on 400 Italian banks over the period 2006–2013, to compute a new indicator for product differentiation in the mortgage market. This paper considers mortgage with non-conventional characteristics: loan-to-value ratio greater than 80%; duration longer than 30 years or with a flexible maturity. This paper estimates probit and ordinary least squares (OLS) models using panel data at bank-time level.FindingsThe findings suggest that during the double crisis that hit the Italian economy between 2008 and 2013, the diversification process in the Italian household mortgage market slowed down. Controlling for banks’ and local markets’ this study finds that larger, less risky banks and those that have adopted scoring systems are more likely to offer non-conventional mortgages; moreover, banks operating in more competitive markets and in markets where other banks offer non-conventional loans tend to diversify their supply more. Most of these indications are confirmed by analyzing the quantities actually granted. These results suggest that the structure of the local markets does matter, and that there could be a non-price competition effect among banks in providing differentiated mortgage contracts.Originality/valueThe indicator, computed using data at bank level drawn from a special Bank of Italy’s survey, goes beyond the standard approach on product differentiation followed in the empirical literature, mainly base on the dichotomy between fixed and variable lending rates. Furthermore, to best of the authors’ knowledge, so far there is no empirical evidence on the supply-side factors that influenced the diversification of mortgages’ contractual terms during the crisis; particularly, there is no evidence on the role of local market competition and bank-specific features. This paper contributes to fill this gap in the literature.

Factors Affecting the Competitive Capacity of Commercial Banks: A Critical Analysis in an Emerging Economy

This research was conducted to investigate the factors influencing the commercial bank’s competitive capacity in an emerging country. Data were collected from the domestic-owned commercial banks and foreign-owned commercial banks listed on Vietnam’s Stock Exchange over the period of nine years from 2010 to 2018. Three statistic approaches were employed to address econometrics issues and to improve the accuracy of the regression coefficients: Pooled Ordinary Least Square (Pooled OLS), Random Effects Model (REM), and Fixed Effects Model (FEM). To correct the diagnostics and endogeneity in the model, the study uses Generalized Least Square (GLS) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). In order to account for the degree of competitive capacity we use Lerner index. Results demonstrate that the impact of bank-specific characteristics on market power in banks is statistically significant, and there are substantial distinguishments of economic consideration among these factors. In addition, a bank with a higher level of competitive capacity in the previous year will outstandingly generate competitive capacity in the current year. Another possibility, a greater level foreign investment into the banks in the host country could further encourage competitive capacity in the banking system. Finally, economic growth rate has no impact on competitive capacity at a significant level of 5% while a positive effect from inflation on bank’s market power could be found.

Internal and external determinants of Iraqi bank profitability

The determinants of bank profitability are very important, as bank profitability significantly affects the economies of countries. This study aims to examine the internal determinants (bank-specific characteristics) and external determinants (macroeconomic factors and government variables) of bank profitability in Iraq. The study uses unbalanced panel data from 18 banks in Iraq for thirteen years, from 2005 to 2017. The relationship is estimated using a fixed effects approach. The study selected 18 conventional banks considering their data availability in the period from 2005 to 2017. Based on the panel data method, the results show that bank size, the equity to total assets and total loans to total assets ratios, GDP growth, and government effectiveness have a significant and positive impact on the profitability of Iraqi banks. Meanwhile, credit risk, inflation, interest rate, unemployment, and political instability have a significant negative influence on bank profitability. To the authors’ knowledge, this study is considered one of the earliest studies of its kind, in which the main factors affecting Iraqi bank profitability are determined. That said, this paper makes a significant contribution to the theoretical literature, the industry, and policymakers, so that the performance of Iraqi conventional banks can be improved. Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the support from Ministry of Higher Education in Iraq, University of Kerbala, AL-Furat AL-Awsat Technical University, and Imam AL-Kadhum College for Islamic Studies. Furthermore, we appreciate the support by Prof. Dr. Sivarajasingham Selliah, Assistant Prof. Dr. Muhammad Abrar Ul Haq, and Dr. Mohammed Hasan.

How do bank-specific characteristics affect lending? New evidence based on credit registry data from Latin America

This paper investigates how bank-specific characteristics have affected credit growth in five Latin American countries (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru). We use detailed credit registry data and apply a common empirical strategy to analyse the pre- and post-crisis periods. We find that large and well-capitalised banks with low risk indicators, stable sources of funding and a commercial business model generally supply more credit. Such banks are also more sheltered from monetary and global shocks, with the role of specific characteristics varying by the type of shock.

The Impact of Bank-Specific Attributes on Web- Based Disclosure Practices of Global Banks

This paper examines the extent of web disclosure practices of the top thirty global banks. The paper also investigates the impact of bank-specific characteristics such as bank size, financial performance and corporate governance on web disclosure practices. To analyse the extent of web disclosure practices, a disclosure index of 101 items of information was formulated. To check the hypotheses of the study, an OLS regression framework was estimated on a sample of the top thirty global banks. Descriptive analysis indicates that global banks’ web disclosure is at an acceptable level as the mean value was 73. The results show that large sized banks and banks that follow good corporate governance practices extensively use their websites to disclose information. On the contrary, financial performance negatively affects the extent of web-based disclosure in a global context. The study contributes to the existing literature of webbased disclosure and the findings are useful for managers and investors. For managers it helps to meet the actual and potential informational needs of investors and for investors it helps in the decision to invest in a richer informational environment and better-assessed firm value. KEYWORDS: Web-based disclosure; global banks