This paper examines competition among commercial banks following deregulation in a small open economy. I jointly estimate a system of differentiated product demand and pricing equations, and use conduct parameters to identify market structure. The empirical results show that the banking sector...

This paper investigates the prevailing financial regulatory structures and impact of the current financial turmoil on banking performance in four Asian economies : the People's Republic of China (PRC); Hong Kong, China; Singapore; and Taipei,China. Both the PRC and Hong Kong, China operate under a...

This paper distills some policy lessons from the financial services integration programme in the European Union for East Asia. Focusing on the improved cross-border facilitation of financial flows rather than on general macroeconomic factors related to optimal currency area formation, the paper...

This paper investigates whether there is any consistency between banks financial strength ratings (bank rating) and their risk-return profiles. It is expected that banks with high ratings tend to earn high expected returns for the risks they assume and thereby have a low probability of...

Since the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis, the level of foreign bank penetration has increased steadily in Asian banking markets. This paper examines the impact of foreign banks on the monetary policy transmission mechanism in emerging Asian economies during the period from 2000 to 2009, with a...

This paper sheds light on the transmission mechanism of loan-to-value (LTV) policy to financial stability by providing three findings from Hong Kong. First, there is evidence that LTV cap tightening since 2009 has dampened both borrowers' leverage and credit growth, and that lower leverage has...

Is there a link between loose monetary conditions, credit growth, house price booms, and financial instability? This paper analyzes the role of interest rates and credit in driving house price booms and busts with data spanning 140 years of modern economic history in the advanced economies. We...

Within the banking efficiency analysis literature there is a dearth of studies which have considered how banks have 'survived' the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Considering the profound changes that have occurred in the region's financial systems since then, such an analysis is both...

This paper assesses the relative technical efficiency of institutions operating in a market that has been significantly affected by environmental and market factors in recent years, the Hong Kong banking system. These environmental factors are specifically incorporated into the efficiency...

This report identifies a set of policy lessons for China today drawn from the experience of financial deregulation, financial crisis and recovery in Scandinavia during the period 1985-2000. Although there are considerable differences between the huge Chinese economy and the small Nordic...