German Banking Industry Research Articles

Income Diversification in the German Banking Industry

In the last few years it has been possible to observe decreasing interest margins for German universal banks. At the same time, institutions increasingly moved part of their business from interest to fee-earning activities. This study analyzes the determinants of non-interest income and its impact on financial performance and the risk profile of German banks between 1995 and 2007. We find empirical evidence that for all German universal banks risk-adjusted returns on equity and total assets are positively affected by higher fee income activities. Additionally, for commercial banks we show that a strong engagement in fee-generating activities goes along with higher risk. In order to analyze possible cross-subsidization effects between interest and fee business we also examine how banks' expansion in fee-based services has affected their interest margin. For savings and commercial banks we find that institutions with a strong focus on fee business charge lower interest margins when credit risk is controlled.

Income Diversification in the German Banking Industry

In the last few years it has been possible to observe decreasing interest margins for German universal banks. At the same time, institutions increasingly moved part of their business from interest to fee-earning activities. This study analyzes the determinants of non-interest income and its impact on financial performance and the risk profile of German banks between 1995 and 2007. We find empirical evidence that for all German universal banks risk-adjusted returns on equity and total assets are positively affected by higher fee income activities. Additionally, for commercial banks we show that a strong engagement in fee-generating activities goes along with higher risk. In order to analyze possible cross-subsidization effects between interest and fee business we also examine how banks' expansion in fee-based services has affected their interest margin. For savings and commercial banks we find that institutions with a strong focus on fee business charge lower interest margins when credit risk is controlled.

The Impact of Business Process Outsourcing on Firm Performance and the Influence of Governance: A Long Term Study in the German Banking Industry

Does BPO pay off at the firm-level? Although there are several studies which analyze the potential benefits of BPO, there is a virtual absence of research papers on BPO outcomes. Based on an analysis of 137 Business process outsourcing (BPO) ventures at 254 German banks in a period between 1994 and 2005, we found that the outsourcer's financial performance in terms of profitability and cost efficiency was increased significantly compared to industry peers without BPO. The increase stems not from workforce reductions but rather from increased employee productivity. Further, we show how BPO governance ensures BPO success: individually negotiated outsourcing contracts help to improve cost efficiency and profitability measures. Relational governance based on trust has only positive effects on profitability.

Why German banks should merge

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate whether the wave of mergers observed in other European countries is suitable for the German banking industry.Design/methodology/approach – This question is approached by studying the relationship between market structure and profit (the so‐called profit‐structure relationship) in the German banking industry using the model suggested by Berger. By extending his econometric model to include portfolio and capital risk and using German banks' financial data, the authors are able to test simultaneously for three competing theories of the profit‐structure relationship.Findings – It is found that including portfolio risk significantly improves the fit of the estimated profit‐structure relationship. In addition, it is found that scale economies are present in German banking and that the so‐called structural conduct – performance hypothesis is accepted. Owing to the acceptance of this hypothesis, conclude it is that mergers are likely to boost German banks' profitability but...

The risks of business process outsourcing: a two-fold assessment in the German banking industry

This paper tackles the question of whether the risks inherent in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) differ significantly from the risks of Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO), and subsequently investigates which are the most salient risks inherent in BPO. By applying structured expert interviews and a quantitative survey among Germany's 200 largest banks, it turns out that the risk categories relevant to ITO and BPO are fundamentally the same, but differ in magnitude. Digging deeper into the risks associated with BPO, and using Perceived Risk Theory as a theoretical framework, we found that financial risks are most important to decision makers, followed by strategic and performance risks.

Single euro payments area from the retail banking perspective

Europe-wide cashless payments are soon set to become reality with the ‘single euro payments area’ (SEPA). In line with plans by the European Commission and the European Central Bank, from January 2008 bank customers in all EU countries will be able to make cross-border credit transfers, direct debit and card payments as easily and securely as they already do in their home countries. This paper will also outline the viewpoint on SEPA of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (group of German savings banks, Landesbanken and associated companies), who believe this transformation of cashless payment transactions must be customer-oriented — in other words private customer-oriented too — and improve rather than worsen the competitive landscape in Europe. As far as existing debit methods in Europe are concerned, the German banking industry views a network of competitive European systems working in collaboration with global methods as a viable solution for meeting the requirements of the SEPA Cards Framework (SCF).

Trends in der Bankenaufsicht als Motor der Uberregulierung des Bankensektors - Anmerkungen aus einer politokonomischen Perspektive*

: In this article it is argued that overregulation in the German banking industry is driven by deficient incentives. One important piece in this picture is the rule that resources used by the supervision authority are financed, basically, through an industry tax. Overregulation arises in such a context because the social cost of regulation is neither internalised by the supervision authority nor by the government. The natural antagonism of the industry against too much regulation is attenuated because of a highly unequal impact of the regulation cost on different industry groups. In line with this picture we present evidence in favour of the hypothesis that international harmonisation in banking regulation evolved as a means of overregulation.

German Banks - A Declining Industry?

This paper is a draft for the chapter Banks and Banking Structure of the forthcoming book The German Financial System edited by J.P. Krahnen and R.H. Schmidt (Oxford University Press). As such, the paper starts out with a description of past and present structural features of the German banking industry. Given the presented empirical evidence it then argues that great care has to be taken when generalising structural trends from one financial system to another. Whilst conventional commercial banking is clearly in decline in the US, it is far from clear whether the dominance of banks in the German financial system has been significantly eroded over the last decades. We interpret the immense stability in intermediation ratios and financing patterns of firms between 1970 and 2000 as strong evidence for our view that the way in which and the extent to which German banks fulfill the central functions for the financial system are still consistent with the overall logic of the German financial system. In spite of the current dire business environment for financial intermediaries we do not expect the German financial system and its banking industry as an integral part of this system to converge to the institutional arrangements typical for a market-oriented financial system.

Technology and Cost Efficiency in Universal Banking A “Thick Frontier”-Analysis of the German Banking Industry

Using 1992 data of 1490 banks covering about 40% of German banking, we specify a multi-product translog cost function and follow the “thick frontier”-approach to control for cost inefficiency when evaluating the technology of banking. Scale economies are found to exist up to a size of about 5 billion DM of total assets, with diseconomies being caused by non-operating costs. There is hardly any evidence of economies of scope. Compared to cost inefficiency external factors play a surprisingly strong role in explaining cost differences between high-cost and low-cost banks. Smaller banks turn out to be more responsive to input prices.

Efficiency and technical progress in banking Empirical results for a panel of German cooperative banks

Using 1989–1992 individual data of 757 German cooperative banks and applying the intermediation approach we specify a multi-product translog cost function for this part of the German banking industry. For all size classes moderate economies of scale can be identified. There is also evidence of economies of scope which supports the notion of universal banking. As for cost efficiency, we find that the average banks in all size classes deviate considerably from the best practice cost frontier. All banks enjoy growth of total factor productivity, which is higher for the smaller banks in the sample.

German Banking between the Wars: The Crisis of the Credit Banks

This article argues that the business policies of the German credit banks were only a secondary cause of the troubles that befell them between the wars and that the primary explanation lies in the instability of their monetary environment and of the credit sector's competitive structure. By carefully tracing the impacts of the interwar inflation and stabilization and of the 1931 crisis on the German banking industry, setting them in the context of domestic and international political developments, the article explains the limited choices available to the banks in this period and their relative eclipse during the Third Reich.