Bank efficiency in South‐Eastern Europe

This study examines the cost and profit efficiency of banking sectors in six transition countries of South‐Eastern Europe over the period 1998–2008. Using a stochastic frontier approach, our analysis reveals that the average cost efficiency of South‐Eastern European banks is 68.59 percent, and the average profit efficiency is 53.87 percent. Regressions on the determinants of bank efficiency show that foreign banks are characterized by higher profit efficiency but lower cost efficiency, and government‐owned banks are associated with lower profit efficiency than domestic private banks. However, the efficiency gap between foreign‐, domestic private‐ and government‐owned banks narrows over time. We also find that the market power of a bank has a positive association with both cost and profit efficiency. Institutional development, proxied by progress in banking regulatory reforms, privatization and enterprise corporate governance restructuring, also has a positive impact on bank efficiency.     

Banking reforms,performance and risk in China

We investigate the impact of the banking reform started from 2005 on ownership structures in China on commercial banks’ profitability, efficiency and risk over the period 2000–2012, providing comprehensive evidence on the impact of banking reform in China. We find that banks on average tend to have higher profitability, lower risk and lower efficiency after the reforms, and the results are robust with our difference-in-difference approach. Our results also show that the Big 5 state-owned banks (SOCB) underperform banks with other types of ownership when risk is measured by non-performing loans (NPLs) over the entire study period but tend to have fewer NPLs than other banks during the post-reform period. Our results provide some supporting evidence on the ongoing banking reforms in China, suggesting that attracting strategic foreign investors and listing SOCBs on stock exchanges appear to be effective ways to help SOCBs deal with the problem of NPLs and manage their risk.     

The Impact of Foreign Entry on Chinese Banks

Utilizing hand collected data concerning foreign ownership in the Chinese banking sector, we examine whether foreign ownership improves the efficiency of Chinese banks. Foreign banks tend to provide cooperation in retail banking rather than in corporate or private banking. We find no robust evidence of an improvement in the efficiency of an average bank that receives foreign strategic investments. However, the bank cost and profit efficiency significantly improve when foreign strategic investments provide retail banking and internal control assistance respectively to local banks. These findings suggest that foreign investment improves local bank efficiency when it transfers technologies that are lacking in local banks.     

Bank competition, financial reform, and institutions: The importance of being developed

In this paper, I estimate the degree of market power at the bank-level for 84 banking systems worldwide. Subsequently, I analyze the sources of bank competition, placing emphasis on the impact of financial reform and the quality of institutions. I find that financial liberalization policies reduce the market power of banks in developed countries with advanced institutions. In contrast, banking competition does not improve at the same pace in countries with weaker institutions and a lower level of institutional development. The results hold across a wide array of identification tests and estimation methods. The main policy implication to be drawn is that a certain level of institutional development is a precondition for the success of reforms aimed at enhancing the competition and efficiency of banking markets.     

Did foreign banks stay committed to emerging Europe during recent financial crises?

Our objective is to investigate empirically the behavior of foreign banks with respect to real loan growth during periods of financial crisis for a set of countries in which foreign banks dominate the banking sectors due primarily to having taken over large existing former state-owned banks. The eight countries are among the most developed in emerging Europe, their banking sectors having been modernized by the middle of the last decade. We consider a data period that includes an initial credit boom (2005 – 2007) followed by the global financial crisis (2008 & 2009) and the onset of the Eurozone crisis (2010). Our two innovations with respect to the existing literature on banking during the financial crisis are to separate foreign banks into two categories, namely, subsidiaries of the Big 6 European multinational banks (MNBs) and all other foreign-controlled banks, and to take account of the impact of exchange rates during the period. Our results show that bank lending was impacted adversely by both crises but that the two types of foreign banks behaved differently. The Big 6 banks remained committed to the region in that their lending behavior was not different from that of domestic banks supporting the notion that these countries are treated as a “second home market” by these European MNBs. Contrariwise, the other foreign banks active in the region were involved in fueling the credit boom but then decreased their lending aggressively during the crisis periods. Our results also indicate that bank behavior in countries having flexible exchange rate regimes differs from that in those in (or effectively in) the Eurozone. Our results suggest that both innovations matter for studying bank behavior during crisis periods in the region and, by extension, to other small countries in which banking sectors are dominated by foreign financial institutions having different business models.     

Foreign Banks and Credit Volatility: The Case of Latin American Countries

The number of foreign banks in Latin America increased substantially over the period 1995–2001, prompting a debate on the potential consequences for host countries. Discussions focused on efficiency, the impact on competition and product market diversification in the banking industry, and the quality of the regulatory environment, among other issues. Against this background, this paper uses ARCH techniques to test the impact of foreign banks on both the level and the volatility of real private bank credit in a panel of eight Latin American countries, using quarterly data over the period 1995–2001. The empirical findings show that, together with financial development, the presence of foreign banks has contributed to reducing real credit volatility, improving the buffer shock function of the banking sector.     

Efficiency amongst China's banks: a DEA analysis five years after WTO entry

WTO entry in 2001 heralded a new stage in the reform of China's banking sector. With the reality that foreign banks would be extended national treatment by the end of 2006, China's banks faced the imperative to reform in earnest. They began reforms from a variety of different starting points and have pursued a variety of different reform approaches. Five years on, this paper assesses efficiency levels in 11 of China's most prominent banks. The results, obtained using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), suggest that differences in efficiency levels are actually quite small. On the one hand, this finding is encouraging because it suggests that few of China's major banks lag behind the pack. On the other hand, it also implies that efficiency levels almost certainly do lag in China's less prominent banks, which together still account for more than 40% of total banking system assets.     

The Efficiency of China's Banking Industry and the Determinants

The recent global financial crisis highlights the importance of a sound financial sector for economic development. This paper evaluates the economic efficiency of China's banking industry and investigates the determinants of this efficiency. Our analysis shows that the average economic efficiency of joint-stock commercial banks is highest, followed by the ‘Big Four’ state-owned commercial banks and city commercial banks. The economic inefficiency of these banks during the past 15 years was mainly caused by technical inefficiency, and this technical inefficiency was mainly caused by scale inefficiency. Using the scores of efficiency as dependent variables, the paper also comprehensively studies the impact of (1) the characteristics of individual banks, (2) the characteristics of the whole banking industry and (3) macroeconomic factors on banking efficiency. The results suggest a number of factors that banks can work on to improve efficiency and lend support to deepening reforms in the Chinese banking industry, including regulatory reforms that require capital adequacy in a more strict way, reforms that introduce more competition and, more broadly, reforms that aim at establishing institutions that can truly commercialize Chinese banks. Last but not least, the efficiency of banking depends on healthy growth of the overall economy.     

银行业竞争、客户筛选与村镇银行二元绩效：传导机制与实证研究*

村镇银行承担着支持“三农”和发展普惠金融的重要使命,但关于银行业竞争对村镇银行经营绩效的影响及其传导机制的研究较少。利用江苏省县域村镇银行2008年至2013年的面板数据,在数理模型分析的基础上实证检验了银行业竞争对村镇银行财务绩效和社会绩效的影响。结果表明,银行业竞争显著降低了村镇银行的财务绩效,但显著提升了社会绩效。进一步分析发现,银行业竞争通过改变村镇银行市场定位和客户筛选行为的作用机制,影响村镇银行经营绩效。因此,应坚持金融改革的市场化方向并建立更加精准的补贴机制,促进村镇银行在可持续发展的同时提升社会绩效。     

Cost efficiency in Bangladesh banking: does financial reform matter?

This article estimates the cost efficiency of the commercial banks of Bangladesh in the context of financial reform. Employing the single-stage stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) model, the study uses a unique balanced panel data set comprising bank-level annual data from the dominant commercial banks in Bangladesh for the period 1983–2012. The results show that bank cost has fallen due to financial deregulation. Our results from the data envelopment analysis do not vary significantly that we obtained from the SFA. In addition, the presence of politically linked directors on the bank board has an adverse effect on efficiency. These findings suggest that further reforms aiming at removing all sorts of political influence should continue to ensure competitive environment in order to achieve cost efficiency in the financial sector of the country.     

HOW DOES FOREIGN BANK OWNERSHIP IN THE BANKING SECTOR AFFECT DOMESTIC BANK BEHAVIOUR? A DYNAMIC PANEL DATA ANALYSIS

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how foreign bank ownership in the banking sector affects domestic bank behaviour and whether this relationship depends on the economic and financial conditions of the host country. This paper contains 795 individual banks in 39 countries covering the period 1999–2006. Foreign ownership is calculated using bank level data as a proxy for the degree of foreign bank ownership in the banking sector. First, we find that foreign bank ownership is associated with a decrease in both the profitability and overhead expenses of the domestic bank after applying the system panel Generalized Method of Moments model. Second, a lower level of economic development of the host country enhances the positive effects of foreign bank ownership on the income, profit and cost of domestic banks. Third, financial development plays an important role in determining the effect of foreign bank ownership. Fourth, while the use of aggregate foreign ownership data may provide us with a big picture, it may not explain why individual banks in the same country perform differently, which this study will answer.     

我国商业银行投资银行业务的创新与发展

加入WTO之后,国外金融集团利用其在人才、产品及混业经营等方面的优势,为国内客户提供综合性的金融服务,给国内商业银行带来了激烈的竞争。面对国外混业经营的强烈冲击和严峻挑战,发展我国商业银行投资银行业务势在必行,如何寻求投资银行的业务发展模式并取得的突破,这是摆在我国各商业银行面前的一个共同问题。     

中国银行业引进境外战略投资者的绩效分析

引进境外战略投资者是近几年中国银行业改革的一项重要措施。自2001年加入世界贸易组织后,已先后有十几家中资银行引入了境外战略投资者。中国银行业引进境外战略投资者这一改革措施的选取是正确的,但外资持股比例与银行绩效没有必然联系的实证检验结果提示我们,银行绩效的提升不一定非要以外资控股为前提。对于中国这样一个大国来说,保持国内力量的银行控股权应该具有重要战略意义。     

China's Banking Reform

This article discusses the main problems facing the Chinese banking system and concludes that, despite serious problems, the risk seems small that, in the near future, a financial crisis will occur that will pose severe problems for the international financial system. An internal financial crisis, however, could occur. Without government support, the economic viability of many of China's banks is questionable. The government and central bank authorities acknowledge the situation and have taken some steps toward reform. The most serious threat to the banking system lies in the accumulation of non-performing loans (NPLs)--many of them policybased loans extended by state-owned banks to money-losing state-owned companies with little expectation that they would be completely repaid. China has been taking measures to keep the problem from worsening and has created four asset management companies to dispose of NPLs that still have value. Since the Chinese economic reforms began in 1978, Chinese authorities have made significant progress in modernising their banking system, although they still have a long way to go. However, there are several ameliorating factors that still keep its financial and foreign exchange system viable. China's continued high rate of growth and high savings rate have funneled deposits into the banking system, while a $20-30 billion annual trade surplus together with an inflow of foreign direct investment at about $40 billion per year have resulted in an accumulation of foreign exchange reserves exceeding $200 billion. China does not carry an unusually heavy debt burden, either domestic or international, although its short-term borrowing in foreign currencies has been increasing. China does not currently face a serious risk of either a domestic or international liquidity crisis--unless, of course, a severe and prolonged world recession occurs that adversely affects Chinese exports as well as the inflow of foreign direct investment.     

银行业市场结构、效率和绩效的相关性研究--基于上海地区银行业的考察

文章利用上海市银行业1999～2003年的相关数据,对该市银行业的市场结构、综合效率和经营绩效及其相互关系进行了实证研究.研究表明,上海市银行业是一个中等集中度的市场结构类型.利用DEA技术测定的银行业效率的结果显示,上海四大国有商业银行的整体综合效率要好于股份制商业银行,且股份制上市银行的综合效率对非上市银行不具有比较优势.此外,研究发现决定商业银行绩效水平的市场力假说和效率结构假说在上海银行业中都不成立,但是银行业的规模效率对银行绩效水平具有积极的作用.     

金融压力、所有制结构与银行风险承担——基于中国影子银行活动的实证研究*

2008年金融危机之后，监测与防范系统性金融风险、维护金融稳定成为各国监管机构的工作重点。本文构建了一个反映我国系统性金融风险的中国金融压力指数（FSIC）。基于此，本文研究不同所有制结构的商业银行将如何调整影子银行业务以应对系统性金融风险。实证结果表明，当金融压力上升时，相较于国有银行，非国有银行的风险承担水平显著上升。进一步研究发现，这一差异与两类银行对影子银行这一风险业务的调整有关。当金融压力上升时，国有银行会显著减少影子银行业务，而非国有银行的影子银行业务不会减少。本文提出了国有银行的双重职能这一观点来解释实证研究的发现。本文的研究结论对于指导我国金融市场化改革和防范系统性金融风险具有重要启示。     

外资银行进入对我国银行效率影响的实证分析

本文选取我国银行市场上占主要地位的14家银行1994-2004年的面板数据,就外资银行进入对我国银行业效率影响进行了实证分析.实证结果表明:外资银行的进入使得国内银行的流动性、非利息收入、经营费用和资产收益率降低,并使其资产质量下降,风险增加,但是技术外溢效应以及对国内银行盈利性的影响并不显著.而且,金融业的对外开放对国有银行造成的冲击小于股份制银行.本文还根据实证分析结果,提出相应的政策建议.     

Bank loan versus financial lease: how do traditional and innovative approaches within the banking sector influence economic growth? A comparative analysis between the US and China

ABSTRACT

The argument over the effects of financial structures on economic growth remains unsettled. This study, therefore, compares the dynamic correlation and lead–lag relationship between the different financial approaches within the banking sector (that is, traditional bank loans versus innovative financial leasing) and economic growth. We employ a continuous wavelet analysis using time-series data from 1982–2017 from the US (the world’s largest developed country) and China (the world’s largest developing country). The empirical results show that (1) episodes of significant correlation usually emerge during periods of reform, crisis or policy implementation; and (2) in China, traditional banking promotes economic growth in the long term, while the real economy only imputes the evolution of banks during critical economic reforms in the short term. Meanwhile, financial leasing could only promote the development of the real economy under suitable regulation; and (3) in the US, before the crises, the irrational growth of the real economy could increase bank assets, while during the crises, the traditional banking approach harms economic growth, and after the crises, financial leases play an important role in recovery. Therefore, we suggest that policymakers should establish adequate policies and regulations to solve the situation.     

Opening up for foreign banks: How Central and Eastern Europe can benefit1

This paper analyses the role of foreign banks in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland. With respect to their planned EU membership, these countries have to consider the full implementation of free trade in financial services. Generally, liberalizing the market access of foreign banks allows the production of financial services according to comparative advantage, it fosters competition, it promotes bank privatization, and it facilitates a transfer of know-how into the emerging financial systems. The most important sequencing issue that arises is that the incumbent banks should have been recapitalized for their truly inherited bad loans before markets are opened up. In view of the reform progress that has already been made in the countries under review, abolishing remaining entry barriers is unlikely to put the stability of banking systems at risk while allowing the benefits of open markets to be exploited.     

WHAT CAUSES THE EFFICIENCY AND THE TECHNOLOGY GAP UNDER DIFFERENT OWNERSHIP STRUCTURES IN THE CHINESE BANKING INDUSTRY?

This paper estimates and compares the cost efficiency of the Chinese banking industry among different ownership types for the period 2003–2014, using the stochastic metafrontier model. We find that foreign banks have the lowest cost frontier, while state‐owned commercial banks undertake the least sophisticated technology. Moreover, the results of the upward trend in the technology gap ratio (TGR) and in metafrontier cost efficiency support that a more open financial market is able to enhance banking efficiency. As for the role of environmental conditions, off‐balance sheet items, non‐performing loans, and financial market structure significantly impact the TGRs of different bank types. (JEL C51, G21, D24)