Corruption and bank risk-taking: Evidence from emerging economies

This paper addresses the impact of corruption on banks' risk-taking behavior, using bank-level data from more than 1200 banks in 35 emerging economies during the period 2000–2012. We find consistent evidence that higher levels of corruption increase the risk-taking behavior of banks, in favor of the “sand the wheel” view in the corruption-development nexus. In addition, we examine the indirect effects of corruption on bank risks, and find evidence that the impact of monetary policy on banks' risk-taking behavior is more pronounced with the increasing severity of corruption.     

Monetary policy and bank risk-taking: Evidence from emerging economies

This paper addresses the impact of monetary policy on banks' risk-taking by using bank-level panel data from more than 1000 banks in 29 emerging economies during 2000–2012. We find that, consistent with the proposition of the “bank risk-taking channel” of monetary policy transmission, banks' riskiness increases when monetary policy is eased. This result is robust when we adopt alternative measures of monetary policy and bank risk, and use different econometric methodologies. In addition, we find that bank risk-taking amid expansionary monetary policy is less conspicuous in a more consolidated banking sector and when monetary policy is more transparent.     

Revisiting the impact of institutional quality on post-GFC bank risk-taking: Evidence from emerging countries

This is the first attempt to address the impact of institutional quality on post-GFC bank risk-taking behavior. This study is conducted on 730 banks from 19 emerging countries covering the period 2011–2016. We used six indicators of good governance as a proxy for institutional quality. Both static panel and Dynamic GMM estimation are used to identify the impact of these variables on bank risk-taking; measured by Z-score. We evidenced that increasing government effectiveness, controlling corruption, and improving agents' confidence and adherence to the rule of law reduce banks' risk exposure and improve banks' stability. Besides supporting the Z-score model, the robustness test using σ(NIM) also provides evidence of the impact of regulatory quality on reducing bank risk. Surprisingly, both models tend to indicate that improving voice and accountability increase bank risk-taking in emerging countries. Furthermore, our study provides an interesting reconciliation to the major debate on the impact of size on bank risk.     

Incentive pay and bank risk-taking: Evidence from Austrian,German, and Swiss banks

We use payroll data in the Austrian, German, and Swiss banking sector to identify incentive pay in the critical banking segments of treasury/capital market management and investment banking for 67 banks. We document an economically significant correlation of incentive pay with both the level and volatility of bank trading income—particularly for the pre-crisis period 2003–2007, in which incentive pay was strongest. This result is robust if we instrument the bonus share in the capital market divisions with the strength of incentive pay in unrelated bank divisions like retail banking. Moreover, pre-crisis incentive pay appears too strong for an optimal trade-off between trading income and risk, which maximizes the net present value of trading income. Further analyses indicate that the bonus moderation during the crisis has removed excessive pre-crisis incentive pay.     

The influence of bank ownership on credit supply: Evidence from the recent financial crisis

This study examines how bank ownership influenced the credit supply during the recent financial crisis in Russia, where the banking sector consists of a mix of state-controlled banks, foreign-owned banks, and domestic private banks. To estimate credit supply changes, we apply an original approach based on stochastic frontier analysis. We use quarterly data for Russian banks covering the period from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2009. Our findings suggest that bank ownership affected credit supply during the financial crisis and that the crisis led to an overall decrease in the credit supply. Relative to domestic private banks foreign-owned banks reduced their credit supply more and state-controlled banks less. This supports the hypothesis that foreign banks have a “lack of loyalty” to domestic actors during a crisis, as well as the view that an objective function of state-controlled banks leads them to support the economy during economic downturns.     

Sectoral credit reallocation: An excessive bank risk-taking explanation

This paper develops a theoretical model to provide an alternative explanation for the credit to nontradable sector growing faster than credit to tradable sector, after a US expansionary monetary policy, based on an excessive risk-taking channel. This is, a reduced foreign interest rate decreases bank default probability, which in turn diminishes banks’ incentives to take excessive risk. This produces a reallocation of loan supply to nontradable sector since tradable loans are riskier. Using monthly sectoral credit data at the bank level for the Peruvian economy in the 2004–2019 period, we find evidence of the excessive bank risk-taking channel on sectoral credit reallocation.     

The Use and Abuse of Export Subsidies: Evidence from Colombia

(12033) Christian Helmers and Natalia Trofimenko We evaluate the impact of firm‐specific export subsidies on exports in Colombia. Using a two‐step selection model, we predict firm‐specific subsidy amounts that can be explained by the characteristics that determine firms’ eligibility for government support and its amount. Drawing on the accounts of the discretionary allocation of subsidies in developing countries, we interpret the discrepancy between the predicted and the observed subsidy amounts as a proxy for a firm's ties to government officials. Controlling for observable and unobservable firm characteristics as well as persistence in exporting, we find that although, in general, subsidies exhibit a positive impact on export volumes, this impact is diminishing in subsidy size and in the degree of a firm's connectedness.     

Pay-performance sensitivity and risk-taking behaviors: Evidence from closed-end funds

The pay-performance sensitivity (PPS) of managers of closed-end funds is explicitly specified in their contracts as the marginal rate of the funds' net asset value. Using a sample of US closed-end funds from 2006 to 2009, this paper investigates the relationship between the PPS and risk-taking behaviors of fund managers. After controlling for endogeneity, we find that fund return volatility and fund PPS positively determine each other. Furthermore, the positive relationship is more pronounced for closed-end funds engaging in alternative investments or in emerging markets.     

Cyclicality of lending in Africa: The influence of bank ownership

Ownership structure of banks has dramatically changed over the past two decades in African countries with privatization and foreign bank entry, including the expansion of Pan-African banks. The objective of this paper is to investigate how bank ownership influences cyclicality of lending in Africa. We are then able to assess how changes in bank ownership influence the economy. To this end, we measure the sensitivity of bank loan growth to GDP per capita growth of the host country with dynamic GMM estimations. We use panel data from 190 commercial banks covering 20 African countries spanning the period from 2002 to 2015. We find that lending of African banks is procyclical for all types of banks. However, we observe that Pan-African banks are the least procyclical banks, while no significant difference in procyclicality is observed between state-owned banks, domestic private banks, and other foreign banks. In addition, we find evidence that foreign banks are influenced by GDP per capita growth of their home country. Therefore, our findings support the view that the expansion of Pan-African banks contributes to reduce cyclicality of lending. However, foreign bank entry can enhance the transmission of external shocks.     

Bank risk-taking and market discipline: Evidence from CoCo bonds in Korea

We investigate whether the risk profile of contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds is well-priced by testing the sensitivity of bond spreads to bank asset volatility. While equity holders (bankers) have an incentive to make riskier investments to trigger the write-off, such risk-taking behavior can be contained if CoCo bond investors punish it by demanding higher returns. We have found that investors in the Korean financial market understand the risk profile of CoCo bonds and require higher returns for the additional bank risk, which suggests the presence of market discipline with regard to CoCo bonds.     

Unintended investor sentiment on bank financial products: Evidence from China

Investor sentiment on bank financial products (BFPs) is commonly overlooked. However, given the implementation of regulatory policies and the development of Internet financial market, investor sentiment on BFPs has become increasingly important in China since 2013. This paper constructs investor sentiment on BFPs, based on six proxies that reflect market liquidity, transaction status, market activity, and industry development. We contribute to the literature by finding the comovement of the investor sentiment on BFPs and the returns, and by demonstrating the spillover effects from bank financial markets to related markets from the perspective of the investor sentiment on BFPs.     

The impact of trade and financial openness on bank loan pricing: Evidence from emerging economies

In this paper, we examine the impact of trade and financial openness on bank loan pricing. Using data from 35 emerging economies, we first document that higher trade and financial openness lower interest rates on gross bank loans using country-specific measures for trade and financial openness. We then confirm our findings using firm-specific measures for trade and financial openness and individual loan spread. Exploiting the accession to World Trade Organization (WTO) as a quasi-natural experiment, we observe loan interest rates declined in countries after joining the WTO. Overall, we imply that openness is beneficial for financial development in emerging economies.     

Testing for convergence in bank efficiency: a cross-country analysis

This paper empirically investigates a possible convergence among the operational efficiency of financial institutions across countries. We explore (i) the relative performance of banking industries in two samples (European and global) over time, and (ii) whether banking industries are likely to attain the same level of efficiency in the long run as implied by international financial integration. We find that convergence in bank efficiency is incomplete and limited to European banking industries. Differing level of bank efficiencies across the globe may offer opportunities for international investors who would like to capitalize on such market imperfections. Our findings also have implications for policy makers who are concerned with the full integration and the stability of the global financial system.     

The influence of human resource management in savings bank performance

The aim of this article was to analyse the value of human resources (HR) for competitive advantage and their influence on the firm's performance in the service industry. To achieve our goal, we have first proposed a resource-based framework to discuss the circumstances under which human resources can be a source of competitive advantage. Then, an empirical research was developed in the Spanish savings bank sector to analyse the relationship between HR management and the firm's performance. Our results, suggest that those savings banks which better combine their HR practices to create and to develop a strategic human capital pool have shown better levels of profitability and productivity.     

Foreign bank lending: Evidence from the global financial crisis

We exploit highly disaggregated bank-firm data to investigate the dynamics of foreign vs domestic credit supply in Italy around the period of the Lehman collapse, which brought a sudden and unexpected deterioration of economic conditions and a sharp increase in credit risk. Taking advantage of the presence of multiple lending relationships to control for credit demand and risk at the individual-firm level, we show that foreign lenders restricted credit supply (to the same firm) more sharply than their domestic counterparts. A number of exercises testing alternative explanations for this result suggest that such more intense restriction also reflects the (functional) distance between a foreign bank's headquarter and the Italian credit market.     

The effect of stimulus policy on lending behavior and bank risk: Evidence from the Chinese banking sector

Considering China's stimulus policy in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment, our study attempts to provide evidence to understand how expansionary monetary policy is likely to influence bank risk-taking in emerging markets, specifically in China. Using data on Chinese counties from 2006 to 2011, we theoretically discuss and empirically observe a positive relationship between the stimulus policy and bank risk-taking, as measured by nonperforming loans. Such a nexus stems from the negative effect of the stimulus policy on banks' lending standards and the positive effect on banks' credit support to small and medium sized enterprises. In addition, our study is enriched by estimating the moderating effects of bank capitalization based on the “risk-shifting” effect and “search for yield” effect caused by the stimulus policy. Specifically, we find important differences across banking groups, such that small and medium-sized banks with low capitalization increase their exposure to risk, while large state-owned banks with high capitalization notably reduce their risk tolerance. The results of this study may help to characterize monetary policy and macro prudential regulation, especially for emerging economies.     

Short‐term Consequences of Trade Reform for Industry Employment and Wages: Survey of Evidence from Colombia

Recent research has focused on the short‐ to medium‐term implications of trade reforms for the labour market outcomes and poverty in poor economies. This article summarises the evidence on the short‐term consequences of the Colombian trade reform initiated in 1985 for industry employment and industry wages. Although the reform reduced manufacturing tariffs on average by 40 percentage points from 1984 to 1994, tariff declines were not significantly associated with labour reallocation across sectors. The reform, however, was associated with bigger declines in relative industry wages in sectors that experienced bigger tariff cuts. This evidence is in line with the predictions of short‐ to medium‐run models of trade in which labour is not mobile across sectors. It is also consistent with the predictions of models where imperfectly competitive industries share rents with workers and trade reduces the firms’ profit margins and thus workers’ rents.     

The role of risk-taking in Singapore

This study explores the differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in the city-state of Singapore with regard to the risks involved in the decision to become an entrepreneur. The sample is composed of 30 Chinese entrepreneurs and 44 Singaporean managers and engineers employed by six multinational corporations.Whether or not entrepreneurs are more risk-oriented than managers is not clear from this study but the data from this study demonstrate that entrepreneurs are able to give up job security and take specific kinds of risks related to launching a new venture because they have confidence that they will either succeed or be capable of carrying on a successful career. Whereas job security is a critical variable that holds non-entrepreneurs to the status quo in Singapore, the potential loss of self-respect and self-image, the fear of failure, appears to be a force that drives Chinese entrepreneurs in Singapore to succeed.Although the research for this study began from the widely held premise that risk was a psychological attribute, the research process revealed that risk is more productively seen as a decision-making variable. The research in this study, like previous studies on entrepreneurs and risk, also assumes that choice was the core of risk-taking. It is doubtful, however, that individuals have a generalized risk-propensity, for risk is highly contextual. Risk is most likely to be seen in specific kinds of entrepreneurial decisions such as the decision to become an entrepreneur, the decision to grow a new venture through new product development, international market entry or other strategic options, and decisions related to control issues. Risk should be viewed as part of a complex multivariate process and attention needs to be given in the future to the study of risk identification, risk assessment, formulation of risk strategies, and the management of risk.Risk is an inherent aspect of any opportunity and, consequently, is the darker side of the heart of entrepreneurship. In a Chinese entrepreneurial setting these factors and decisions are part of a complex social process.     

Dynamics of intellectual capitals and bank efficiency in India

This article attempts to examine the impact of intellectual capitals and its sub-components on the bank’s efficiency parameters for 38 listed Indian banks within multivariate panel data framework during the period from 2004–2005 to 2015–2016. The study uses the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis approach to estimate technical, pure technical and scale efficiency in the first stage, followed by computing Value Added Intellectual Capital and Modified Value Added Intellectual Capital as an indicator for intellectual capital performance. Finally, Tobit regression results suggest that intellectual capitals have statistically significant and positive but very low impact on all the three efficiency scores. At the sub-component level, only human capital efficiency has a significant impact with low value on the all three efficiency measures. Bank size and leverage are also found to be significant drivers of bank efficiency as well. Thus, the study’s findings support higher investment in intellectual capitals in order to further improve the banking efficiency and value creation in India by adopting appropriate policy by management for proper input allocations, particularly human capital and capital employed in coming years.