The recent global financial crisis has highlighted the importance of the procyclicality of the financial sector. The procyclicality has transformed banks from mitigation mechanisms to amplifiers of changes in economic activity, potentially affecting financial stability and economic growth. The...

Our study analyses the extent of integration of the EU market for life and non-life insurance. The main integration indicator used is the market share (premium based) of foreign companies in domestic markets. For the calculation of this indicator, three different kinds of foreign presence are...

Since banks are among the most important sources not only of finance but also of external governance for firms, the corporate governance of banks is a crucial factor for growth and development. Despite its importance, this topic has been explored only by a few studies. While some authors...

This study employs various bootstrapped Malmquist indices and efficiency scores to investigate the effects of government regulation on the performance of the Iranian banking industry over the period 2003-2008. An alternative decomposition of the Malmquist index, introduced by Simar and Wilson...

Using data on Indian banks for 1996-2008, the paper examines the interconnect among credit growth, bank soundness and financial fragility. The analysis appears to indicate that higher credit growth amplifies bank fragility. Besides, the results point to the fact that sounder banks increase loan...

The paper examines the response of banks to privatization. Using data on all state-owned banks for the period 1990-2006, the findings indicate that fully state-owned banks are significantly less profitable than partially privatized ones. The improvements in performance by partially privatized...

This paper addresses an important contemporary issue; namely the implementation of the Basel Accord worldwide. The Basel Accord provides a series of measures to improve the stability of the world’s financial system but its implementation poses a number of challenges for both developing and...

This article evaluates the intensity of competition by estimate a bank-specific and time varying Lerner Index as a measure of market power by Zambian banks in the post-reform period. Using a model of oligopolistic conduct, we show that Zambian banks exercised market power in setting prices....

We present a theory of banking regulation affecting procedural compliance in monitoring collateral in secured debt contracts. The theory suggests an externality which creates a gap between the socially optimal level of monitoring and the bank’s privately optimal level. Banks can not be...

Using data from 2004 – 2008, we investigate the effect of foreign ownership on banks efficiency and financial performance. The data is a balanced panel consisting of 16 banks and 640 observations. In random effect regression, to investigate the influence of foreign ownership type banks’, we...