Motivated by the Sharma and Gounder (2012b) finding that deposits may play a key role in enhancing bank credit to private sector in the Pacific, this study investigates a pertinent gap in the literature — the efficiency of banks in the region in converting deposits into credit. Data...

This is the first study to simultaneously estimate the influence of market power and efficiency on profitability of banks in a Pacific Island context. Two market power hypotheses — the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) and the Relative-Market-Power (RMP) hypotheses together with two measures...

This paper examines the changes in bank credit to private sector across six economies in the South Pacific. An extensive time-series and cross-country panel data allow us to draw new and broader lessons compared to existing research, which have tended to focus mostly on single countries with...

In light of the growing finance - private sector - economic growth findings, this article examines, from a supply - side perspective, obstacles to private sector financing in Fiji, a representative South Pacific small island, growth deprived, fragile economy. A survey of 80 percent of the formal...

This article investigates the determinants of Net Interest Margins (NIM) of banks in Fiji, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the South Pacific, over the period 2000-2010. Based mainly on the Ho and Saunders' (1981) dealership model and extensions thereto, this study uses a number of...

A body of evidence accumulated over the past several years, via different methods and estimation techniques, using firm –and household-level data, across many regions and countries show that finance matters for growth. Yet the role of finance in fostering growth in the Pacific, ironically, a...

Banks in the small island developing states of the Pacific have not only survived the Global Financial Crisis but remain strong and profitable raising the question: what determines the strong profitability of banks in the PICs? Moreover, despite the large and extended literature on the subject,...

Recognizing on one hand the importance of the MSE sector for growth and development of economies in the Pacific region and on the other, the financing constraints of the sector, we survey a group of MSEs in a Pacific island country and find that they may particularly be constrained by banks'...

Does finance really lead to economic growth? A growing strand of literature finds positive and strong link between finance and growth. On the other hand, research has also questioned the robustness of the finance – growth nexus. Generally, however, there is some consensus that finance –...

In recognizing on one hand the importance of the micro and small enterprise (MSE) sector for the growth and development of economies in the Pacific subregion and on the other, the financing constraints of the sector, the authors surveyed a group of MSEs in a Pacific island country and found that...