Concentrated Banking System Research Articles

Income inequality, banking competition, and monetary policy

AbstractPrevious research has shown that inflation contributes to income inequality. However, in recent years, there have also been increasing concerns about the effects of concentration in the banking system on economic activity. Notably, we ask the fundamental questions: “How does the concentration of assets in the banking system contribute to the concentration of income in society? Do the effects of inflation on inequality depend on the degree of banking concentration?” We develop a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and microeconomic foundations for financial intermediaries to study the effects of concentration and monetary policy. The model predicts that concentrated banks contribute to inequality by holding large amounts of liquid assets in order to raise private—but not social—returns from capital investment. As concentrated banks distort the level of investment in the economy, the adverse effects of inflation on inequality are magnified in concentrated banking systems.

Desirable banking competition and stability

Every financial crisis raises questions about how the banking market structure affects the real economy. Although low bank concentration may reduce markups and foster riskier behavior, concentrated banking systems appear more resilient to financial shocks. We use a nonlinear dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with financial frictions to compare the transmissions of shocks under different competition and concentration configurations. The results reveal that oligopolistic competition amplifies the effects of the shocks relative to monopolistic competition. The transmission mechanism works through the markups, which are amplified when banking concentration is increased. The desirable banking market structure is determined according to financial stability and social welfare objectives. Moreover, we find that depending on policymakers’ preferences, a banking concentration of five to eight banks balances social welfare and bank stability objectives in the United States.

Bank Competition and Financial Stability in Nepal

This paper examines the casual relationship between bank competition and financial stability in Nepal. The relationship between competition and financial stability in banking system can be explain by two hypothesis: The "competition-fragility" theory holds that increased bank competition weakens profit margins, undermines market power, and lowers franchise value—the continuing concern or market worth of the banks above their book values and “competition-stability” view contends that financial institution stability may benefit from competition. The study used descriptive and causal research design. The random effect panel data of 6 commercial banks of Nepal over the period of 2014-2019. All the data are obtained from NRB monthly statistic and bank annual report. The HHI and n-bank concertration ratio are used as a measure of bank competition while Z-Index and non-performing loan ratio are the proxies of financial stability. The findings confirm the"Competition-frangility" theory by showing a negative association between bank competition and financial stability in Nepal. It states that bank tends to take excessive risks when the competition level increases. It is discovered that competition in the banking industry raises credit risk and reduces capital levels. Riskier policies enhance the likelihood of increased bank bankruptcies and non-performing loan ratios, which adds to fragility and financial instability. Thus, less concentrated banking systems are prone to experiences crisis.

Banking concentration, financial openness, and financial development

AbstractWe examine how financial development in the banking sector depends on the degree of capital account openness and the degree of bank concentration across countries. Using data on 136 countries, we find that the relationship of openness to credit market activity depends on the level of economic development. In high income countries, openness is only associated with higher credit market activity in concentrated banking systems. However, in developing countries, there is evidence that openness is associated with higher credit market activity regardless of concentration. Moreover, in contrast to previous work we examine how the impact of concentration depends on openness.

Role of bank competition in determining liquidity creation: evidence from GCC countries

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the impact of banking-sector concentration on the banks’ liquidity creation in GCC countries over the period from 2012 to 2018 by using a dynamic GMM panel procedure. The results suggest that increased bank competition reduces banks’ liquidity creation across the GCC countries. The study’s findings are in line with the ‘financial fragility hypothesis” according to which banks to reduce their lending activities when competition is high in the market. The evidence suggests that the banking industry is different from others, and pro-competitive policies in the banking industry can reduce liquidity provision by banks. In the context of policy implications, a concentrated banking system discourages capital provision to firms; hence, regulators have to take appropriate measures to resolve the problem of a reduced supply of capital. Government must regulate the banking sector by keeping in view their long-run goal as competition is a double-edged sword in banking.

Institutional quality and risk in the banking system

Purpose This paper aims to offer an empirical study of the impact of institutional quality on the banking system risk and credit risk. Design/methodology/approach Applying cross-sectional dependent tests and stationary tests to check the property of our sample, the panel corrected standard errors model is recruited as the main estimator, while feasible generalized least squares, pool ordinary least squares (OLS), robust pool OLS and other estimators are used as a robustness check for an unbalanced panel data for 56 economies divided into three subsamples between 2002 and 2015. Findings The empirical results show several significant contributions. First, an improvement in institutional quality is an important factor to reduce the banking system risk. This effect of the institutions is less important in well-capitalized, highly profitable and in high-economic growth countries. This effect is also stronger in highly liquid banking systems. Notably, a better institutional quality helps to reduce the banking system risk in the highly concentrated banking system. Second, institutional quality has a significant negative relationship with the banking credit risk, especially in highly concentrated banking systems and in high-growth countries. This influence is weaker in highly liquid and well-capitalized banking systems. Finally, better institutions reduce the positive effect of trade openness, but it induces a higher credit risk for the banking system from the trade openness. Notably, a better institutional quality enhances the negative effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow on both banking system risk and credit risk. These findings are documented for a global sample and three subsamples: low and lower-middle-income economies, upper-middle-income economies and high-income economies. Originality/value This study provides some recommendations, for policymakers, on the roles of institutions in the banking system and financial stability.

The structure and relations of banking systems: the UK experience and the challenges of ‘levelling-up’

Abstract A decentralized banking system is marked by geographical dispersion of banks with close proximity of banks to their borrowers and strong long-term relationships between banks and their borrowers based on soft, tacit, as well as hard, codified information. It is important for promoting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) particularly in regional locations. In contrast, the UK has a highly centralized, concentrated banking system with weak relationships between banks and their borrowers. This has contributed to the high degree of regional disparity across the UK. The programme of ‘levelling up’ regions will require a more decentralized banking system. The cases of Germany, the US, and the Swedish bank Handelsbanken illustrate the advantages of decentralized banking. They also have important lessons for the way in which decentralized banking systems should be structured and organized and, in particular, for the regulatory arrangements that are conducive to their satisfactory functioning and avoidance of pitfalls to which they can otherwise be prone.

FINANCIAL RESILIENCE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: THE ROLE OF BANKING MARKET STRUCTURE

ABSTRACT This article examines whether differences in banking market structures across countries influence the local stock market resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of 66 countries for the period January 2020 to July 2020, our findings demonstrate that countries with more concentrated banking systems, with a higher presence of foreign banks, and a higher share of Islamic banks are more resilient to the pandemic. Considering the banking regulatory differences between countries, we observe that equity markets of countries with stricter regulatory requirements on capital and liquidity are more resilient to the COVID-19. Finally, regarding banking sector performance indicators, our findings show that while stock reactions of countries with more stable banking systems are more resilient to the pandemic; countries with more credit to deposit ratio, overhead costs, high provisions and nonperforming loans are more vulnerable. Our findings provide important implications for policymakers, regulatory bodies and investors.

Effective deposit insurance system for small country with concentrated banking system – with special emphasis on deposit insurance fund of the Republic of North Macedonia

Effective deposit insurance system for small country with concentrated banking system – with special emphasis on deposit insurance fund of the Republic of North Macedonia

Bank competition in India: revisiting the application of Panzar–Rosse model

PurposeThe paper measures the degree of bank competition in Indian banking over the period 1996–2016. Using bank-level annual data, we revisit the case of banking competitiveness during the prefinancial and postfinancial crisis and examine whether the global financial crisis alters the level of bank competition in India. Additionally, this paper addresses the misspecification issues associated with the widely used Panzar–Rosse model in Indian banking context.Design/methodology/approachWe apply Panzar and Rosse (1987) H-statistic and evaluate the degree of bank competition by estimating the extent to which changes in input prices are reflected in revenues earned by banks. Subsequently, we link this measure of competitiveness to a number of structural indicators (HHI and CRn) to examine the structure-conduct-performance hypothesis, which assumes that a concentrated banking system can impair competition. The simple panel regression model was used to handle the empirical estimations.Findingsfindings reveal that the Indian banking system operates under competitive conditions and earns revenues as if under the monopolistic competition. We also find evidence that Indian banks are competitive, even under a concentrated market structure. This observation runs, in contrary, to the prediction of the structure–conduct–performance hypothesis. The findings also indicate the differences in the estimated H-statistic value after considering the misspecifications of the P–R model.Practical implicationsFrom policy perspectives, policymakers should focus more on maintaining an optimal level of bank competition by mitigating entry restrictions, exercising less consolidation and withdrawing overregulation from banking activities. A competitive banking industry ensures both efficiency and stability.Social implicationsA competitive banking sector by lowering interest rates margin provides easier access to finance to both households and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Originality/valueThis is the only study that addresses the misspecification of the P–R model while assessing competition in Indian banking and provides a thorough understanding of the role of concentration on bank competition.

Do banking sector concentration, banking sector development and equity market development influence firms’ financial flexibility? Evidence from Pakistan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of banking sector concentration, banking sector development and equity market development in corporate financial flexibility (FF).Design/methodology/approachThe study used annual data for the period from 1991 to 2014 to examine the relationship between banking sector concentration, banking sector development, equity market development and corporate FF; hypotheses were tested using an unbalanced panel logistic regression model.FindingsThe paper provides empirical insights into the relationships between macroeconomic factors and corporate FF. The results suggest a substantial change in FF across firms; banking sector concentration discourages firms from borrowing, leading to the reduction of corporate borrowing, consequently an increase in FF can be observed. Banking sector development facilitates debt financing, hence reducing FF. Equity market development also has a positive impact on FF, as it is a substitute for debt financing.Practical implicationsThe banking sector is an important provider of capital to business entities. A concentrated banking system discourages the provision of capital to firms; hence regulators have to take appropriate measures to resolve the problem of a reduced supply of capital. Banking sector development facilitates the provision of capital; further development may reduce bank lending rates to firms. Equity market development positively affects FF; hence, firm managers can use equity financing to resume FF. By following pecking order theory, managers use internal sources to finance value-maximizing investment projects, debt and issue shares as the last choice to get financing. When borrowing capacity is depleted, managers can obtain further funds by issuing stocks.Originality/valueFF is an emergent area of research in advanced countries, while in developing economies, it is in the initial stages. Little work is available in this area to find the impact of banking sector concentration, banking sector development and equity market development, therefore, this study fills this gap in the existing literature.

Systemic risk in the banking system: measuring and interpreting the results

Highly concentrated banking system risks and the cumulative effect due to their accumulation act as a driver for improving the macro-prudential policy implemented by central banks. For this reason, an effectively and comprehensively assessed systemic risk in the banking system is declared an express condition for the early detection of its production sources and blocking of potential spreading channels, reducing the possible implementation. In light of this, the article develops an approach to the aggregated systemic risk assessment and interpretation of its results. The proposed approach is based on the considered influence exerted by financial risks of systemically important banks on the destabilized banking system and interconnections between banks in the context of the possible crisis impulse spreading. The following steps should be accomplished to form an aggregated systemic risk indicator in the banking system. Firstly, the differentiation of systemically important banks by the degree of their systemic importance; secondly, an integral assessment of the bank operation riskiness within certain bank groups; thirdly, the cumulative composition of the corresponding integral indicators, taking into account their weighting coefficients based on two criteria, namely values of the systemic importance indicator differentiating the bank groups, and the correlation of their risks. Interpreting the quantitative measurement results with regard to the systemic risk in the banking system is followed by the recommendations below: the systemic risk grading into high, medium and low levels and the respective definition of the threshold aggregated systemic risk indicator value which informs about the possible systemic crisis when approached; justification of the selected supervision regime types (strengthened, moderate or weakened) for systemically important banks, depending on the riskiness level specific for their operation and the systemic importance degree. The developed approach to measuring the systemic risk by means of constructing an aggregated indicator and interpreting the obtained results was being tested considering the financial risk indicators of the systemically important banks in Ukraine during 2009–2018.

Bank Competition and its Determinants: Evidence from Indian Banking

This paper measures the degree of bank competition in India using a sample of 70 commercial banks over the period 1996–2016. To assess the degree of competition, we estimate the market power of each bank in our sample employing three nonstructural measures: the Lerner index, the adjusted Lerner index, and the Boone indicator. Bank-wise and year-wise estimates of the marginal cost required in all these measures are obtained using the semi-parametric method. The paper further attempts to undertake a comprehensive assessment of competition in Indian banking and identifies various bank-specific, macroeconomic, structural, and contestability indicators, which are supposed to explain level and variation of the degree of competition over time. Empirical findings reveal that public-sector banks in India exercise a relatively higher degree of bank competition compared to private and foreign-sector banks. However, aggregate results support that the Indian banking system is competitive in general. Unlike the structure-conduct-performance paradigm, which advocates that a concentrated banking system impairs competitiveness, our findings reveal that concentration measures hardly exert any effect on bank competition. Rather, contestability measures play a significant role in the determination of bank competition.

The Determinants of Commercial Bank Profitability in Vietnam

This study investigates the determinants of profitability for Vietnamese banks between 2005 and 2015 using system generalized method of moments. The findings show the persistence of profits over time. More x-efficient banks appear to be more profitable, supporting the efficient-structure hypothesis. The same is true for banks with greater lending specialization; for those with lower liquidity risk; for more-diversified banks; for listed banks and smaller banks. Interestingly, the findings demonstrate that a less concentrated banking system improves bank profitability and profits tend to persist over time, suggesting the influence of government intervention in explaining bank performance in Vietnam.

Market Structure, Financial Dependence and Industrial Growth: Evidence from the Banking Industry in Emerging Asian Economies.

In this study, we examine the role of market structure for growth in financially dependent industries from 10 emerging Asian economies over the period of 1995–2011. Our approach departs from existing studies in that we apply four alternative measures of market structure based on structural and non-structural approaches and compare their outcomes. Results indicate that higher bank concentration may slow down the growth of financially dependent industries. Bank competition on the other hand, allows financially dependent industries to grow faster. These findings are consistent across a number of sensitivity checks such as alternative measures of financial dependence, institutional factors (including property rights, quality of accounting standards and bank ownership), and endogeneity consideration. In sum, our study suggests that financially dependent industries grow more in more competitive/less concentrated banking systems. Therefore, regulatory authorities need to be careful while pursuing a consolidation policy for banking sector in emerging Asian economies.

Can Firms Grow Without Credit? A Quantile Panel Analysis in the Euro Area

This paper explores the effects of changes in bank credit on firm growth before and after the recent global financial crisis, taking into account firm-specific and country-specific characteristics as well as structural characteristics of domestic banking sectors. Panel quantile analysis is used on a sample of 2075 euro area firms in 2005–2011, enabling thus the identification of potential differences in the dynamics between high-growth and low-growth firms. The post-2008 credit crunch is found to seriously affect mostly high-leveraged, low-growth firms operating in concentrated banking systems with weak foreign presence, and in riskier and less financially developed European economies. By contrast, high-growth firms are not affected and, thus, may be expected to facilitate and sustain the post-crisis credit-less recovery in the euro area. A policy implication of our findings is that creating the right conditions for the emergence of innovative high-growth firms may be a more effective growth strategy, especially in adverse times, as compared to a general policy covering all types of firms.

Determinants of the banking spread in the Brazilian economy: The role of micro and macroeconomic factors

The objective of this paper is to identify the major determinants of the ex-post banking spread in the Brazilian economy, considering the influence of the macroeconomic environment, specific characteristics of the financial institutions, and elements from the banking sector. The empirical model is based on the pioneer work by Ho and Saunders (1981) and some of its extensions in the literature. The sample consists of a balanced panel, composed of 64 banks in the period between the first quarter of 2001 and the second quarter of 2012. The results of the static model suggest that administrative expenses, revenue from services and coverage index are important determinants of the ex-post spread. The macroeconomic environment showed positive effects arising from real GDP while the Herfindahl–Hirschaman index indicated that spreads are higher for a more concentrated banking system. The dynamic model revealed a moderate persistence of the ex-post banking spread and a relevant role for the banks' market-share. The overall pure spread indicates that banks consider the Brazilian economy a risky environment to operate.

Monetary Policy in a Developing Country: Loan Applications and Real Effects

The transmission of monetary policy to credit aggregates and the real economy can be impaired by weaknesses in the contracting environment, shallow financial markets, and a concentrated banking system. We empirically assess the bank lending channel in Uganda during 2010–2014 using a supervisory dataset of loan applications and granted loans. Our analysis focuses on a short period during which the policy rate rose by 1,000 basis points and then came down by 1,200 basis points. We find that an increase in interest rates reduces the supply of bank credit both on the extensive and intensive margins, and there is significant pass-through to retail lending rates. We document a strong bank balance sheet channel, as the lending behavior of banks with high capital and liquidity is different from that of banks with low capital and liquidity. Finally, we show the impact of monetary policy on real activity across districts depends on banking sector conditions. Overall, our results indicate significant real effects of the bank lending channel in developing countries.

Monetary Policy in a Developing Country: Loan Applications and Real Effects

We examine the bank lending channel in Uganda, a developing country where monetary policy transmission may be impaired by weaknesses in the contracting environment, shallow financial markets, and a concentrated banking system. Our analysis employs a supervisory loan-level dataset and focuses on a short period during which the policy rate rose by 1,000 basis points and then came down by 1,100 basis points. We find that an increase in interest rates reduces the supply of bank credit both on the extensive and intensive margins, and there is significant pass-through to retail lending rates. We document a strong bank balance sheet channel, as the lending behavior of banks with high capital and liquidity is different from that of banks with low capital and liquidity. Finally, we show the impact of monetary policy on real activity across districts depends on banking sector conditions. Overall, our results indicate significant real effects of the bank lending channel in developing countries.

Banking Integration and Efficiency Convergence in Baltic Countries in Post-Crisis Period

Abstract We investigate banking efficiency in Baltic countries over the period 2007 - 2011 during one of the biggest financial crisis. The global economic crisis began in December 2007 with the loss of investor confidence in the U.S. securitized mortgages that led to a liquidity crisis that prompted a substantial injection of capital into financial markets by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and European Central Bank. Baltic countries joined the EU in 2004, during the largest wave of accession. Estonia is a member of the eurozone since 2011, Latvia since 2014 and Lithuania adopted euro in 2015. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) - a nonparametric method in operations research and economics for the estimation of production frontiers. It is used to empirically measure productive efficiency of decision-making units (or DMUs) for a sample of banks in a highly concentrated banking system. The aim of the paper is to show the evolution of the banking efficiency in the Baltic countries over the period 2007 - 2011 by using Malmquist index. Our goal is to highlight the evolution of efficiency and we want to answer the research question “How banking efficiency evolved after the financial crisis?” Results show a slight improvement in banking efficiency over the period 2010 - 2011 due to improved management of the inputs, but further research is needed to gain a clearer picture of the phenomenon.