Suomen Pankin Julkaisuarkisto
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Does Bank Competition Reduce Cost of Credit? Cross-country Evidence from Europe
No full textDespite the extensive debate on the effects of bank competition on economic welfare and growth, only a handful of single-country studies deal with the impact of bank competition on the cost of credit. We contribute to the literature by investigating the impact of bank competition on the cost of credit in a cross-country setting. Using a panel of firms from 20 European countries covering the period 2001–2011, we consider a broad set of measures of bank competition, including two structural measures (Herfindahl–Hirschman index and CR5), and two non-structural indicators (Lerner index and H-statistic). We find that bank competition increases the cost of credit and observe that the positive influence of bank competition is stronger for smaller companies. Our findings accord with the information hypothesis, whereby a lack of competition incentivizes banks to invest in soft information and conversely increased competition raises the cost of credit. This positive impact of bank competition is however influenced by the institutional and economic framework, as well as by the crisis.BOFIT Discussion Papers 6/201
Bank overall financial strength: Islamic versus conventional banks
No full textA number of recent studies compare the performance of Islamic and conventional banks with the use of individual financial ratios or efficiency frontier techniques. The present study extends this strand of the literature, by comparing Islamic banks, conventional banks, and banks with an Islamic window with the use of a bank overall financial strength index. This index is developed with a multicriteria methodology that allows us to aggregate various criteria capturing bank capital strength, asset quality, earnings, liquidity, and management quality in controlling expenses. We find that banks differ significantly in terms of individual financial ratios. However, the difference of the overall financial strength between Islamic and conventional banks is not statistically significant. This finding is confirmed with both univariate comparisons and in multivariate regression estimations. When we look at the bank financial strength within regions, we find that conventional banks outperform both the Islamic banks and the banks with Islamic window in the case of Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Islamic banks perform better in the MENA and Senegal region. Second stage regressions also reveal that the bank overall financial strength index is influenced by various country-specific attributes. These include control of corruption, government effectiveness, and operation in one of the seven countries that are expected to drive the next big wave in Islamic finance
The effect of board directors from countries with different genetic diversity levels on corporate performance
No full textWe link genetic diversity in the country of origin of the firms’ board members with corporate performance via board members’ nationality. We hypothesize that our approach captures deep-rooted differences in cultural, institutional, social, psychological, physiological, and other traits that cannot be captured by other recently measured indices of diversity. Using a panel of firms listed in the North American and UK stock markets, we find that adding board directors from countries with different levels of genetic diversity (either higher or lower) increases firm performance. This effect prevails when we control for a number of cultural, institutional, firm-level, and board member characteristics, as well as for the nationality of the board of directors. To identify the relationship, we use—as instrumental variables for our diversity indices—the migratory distance from East Africa and the level of ultraviolet exposure in the directors’ country of nationality.BoF DP 14/201
Real time uncertainty in fiscal planning and debt accumulation in the euro area
No full textUsing real time data from the OECD this study explores euro area fiscal policies since the late 1990s. The results indicate that in the so-called periphery countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) ex ante fiscal plans have been more sensitive to economic cycles in the countercyclical direction than in the other euro area countries. Accumulated debt ratios in the periphery reflect high initial debt ratios, underlying deficit biases and cumulated errors in the data on macroeconomic imbalances. Overall, reliable statistics, balanced macroeconomic developments and longer-term policy orientation are crucial for sound and sustainable public finances.BoF DP 35/201
Monetary Policy, Private Debt and Financial Stability Risks
No full textCan monetary policy be used to promote financial stability? We answer this question by estimating the impact of a monetary policy shock on private-sector leverage and the likelihood of a financial crisis. Impulse responses obtained from a panel VAR model of eighteen advanced countries suggest that the debt-to-GDP ratio rises in the short run following an unexpected tightening in monetary policy. As a consequence, the likelihood of a financial crisis increases, as estimated from a panel logit regression. However, in the long run, output recovers and higher borrowing costs discourage new lending, leading to a deleveraging of the private sector. A lower debt-to-GDP ratio in turn reduces the likelihood of a financial crisis. These results suggest that monetary policy can achieve a less risky financial system in the long run but could fuel financial instability in the short run. We also find that the ultimate effects of a monetary policy tightening on the probability of a financial crisis depend on the leverage of the private sector: the higher the initial value of the debt-to-GDP ratio, the more beneficial the monetary policy intervention in the long run, but the more destabilizing in the short run
Does Social Capital Matter in Corporate Decisions? Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance
No full textWe investigate whether the levels of social capital in U.S. counties, as captured by strength of civic norms and density of social networks in the counties, are systematically related to tax avoidance activities of corporations with headquarters located in the counties. We find strong negative associations between social capital and corporate tax avoidance, as captured by effective tax rates and book-tax differences. These results are incremental to the effects of local religiosity and firm culture toward socially irresponsible activities. They are robust to using organ donation as an alternative social capital proxy and fixed effect regressions. They extend to aggressive tax avoidance practices. Additionally, we provide corroborating evidence using firms with headquarters relocation that changes the exposure to social capital. We conclude that social capital surrounding corporate headquarters provides environmental influences constraining corporate tax avoidance. Copyright ©, University of Chicago on behalf of the Accounting Research Center, 2016BoF DP 21/201
Bank financing, institutions and regional entrepreneurial activities: Evidence from China
No full textWe investigate the effects of bank financing on regional entrepreneurial activities in China. We present contrasting findings on the role of quantity vs. quality of bank financing on small business formation in China: while we document a consistent, significantly positive relationship between the quality of bank financing and new venture formation, we find that the quantity of supplied credit is insignificant. We report that formal institutions are positively correlated to regional entrepreneurial activities, and informal institutions substitute formal institutions. Our findings also reveal that the institutional environment tends to supplement bank financing in promoting regional entrepreneurial activities
Politically connected firms in Poland and their access to bank financing
No full textThis paper characterizes politically connected firms and their access to bank financing. We determine that the relationship between political connections and access to long-term bank loans is weaker in Poland than in other emerging economies. The most probable explanation for this result is related to the instability of the political climate in Poland. We find that only certain kinds of political connections, such as recent connections, positively influenced access to bank financing during the sample period from 2001 to 2011. Moreover, we obtain also some evidence that the value of political connections increased during the 2007 crisis period and onward.Published in BOFIT DP 2/2014
Digitalisation : Shaping the retail payment markets while posing new challenges to authorities
No full textDigitalisation is shaping almost every sector of the economy, enabling new ways of doing things, not merely digitising old, often manual, processes. Numerous new digital payment applications have emerged in retail payment markets, but the underlying payment infrastructures have remained almost unchanged. However, it is expected that technological advances combined with increasing competition enhanced by regulatory changes will shape retail payment markets in the coming years. With this evolving new environment will come new requirements, most notably for the authorities responsible for safeguarding the security, reliability and efficiency of payments. To analyse this challenge, this paper first reviews the theoretical framework that can be applied in examining the development of retail payment markets. Based on this, it outlines possible policy actions for the authorities. Secondly, it assesses the roles of authorities in practice, focusing on their position as catalyst for development in the European and national payment landscapes. Finally, it draws policy conclusions, emphasising the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation bodies involving both payment service users and providers as well as relevant authorities
Central bank digital currency
No full textThis article was originally published in Finnish under the title ”Digitaalinen keskuspankkiraha”, BoF Economics Review 4/2017 (http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:bof-201711031665).Central banks have traditionally issued cash to the general public. With digitalisation, banknotes are becoming a technically outdated payment instrument, and some central banks have explored the possibility of central bank-issued electronic money applicable to retail payments. Electronic central bank money would offer the public the possibility to hold central bank money in a potentially cashless future. In its present form, blockchain technology would probably not be a suitable solution, since it is unable to process a sufficiently large number of transactions. Electronic central bank money would potentially have significant implications for other areas of central bank policy, which should be meticulously analysed