Re-examining the determinants of bank profitability in Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Segun Thompson Bolarinwa ◽  
Olufemi Bodunde Obembe ◽  
Clement Olaniyi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the determinants of bank profitability in Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigates the effect of managerial cost efficiency on bank profitability. Also, since there exist mixed results and controversies in the literature, in both developed and developing countries, regarding the effect of efficiency on bank profitability, this study employs the standard measure of efficiency. In addition, the work incorporates the role of persistence, which is often neglected in the literature in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach This study employs system generalized method of moments. Findings The findings, using the case of Nigeria, show that cost efficiency is a strong determinant of bank profitability in developing countries. In addition, the profitability of banks in Nigeria persists over time; hence, the industry is fairly competitive. Research limitations/implications The recent policies of banking industry recapitalization meant to increase profitability and stability in Nigeria and other African countries’ banking industry will not be effective if the issue of managerial efficiency is not properly addressed. Practical implications Improving the banking managerial efficiency will positively reduce bad loans, hence leading to the stability in the banking system. Originality/value The authors introduce efficiency using standard measure of stochastic frontier analysis for its measurement. Also, this study introduces the role of persistence in the literature in developing countries.

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Tan ◽  
Christos Floros ◽  
John Anchor

Purpose This study aims to test the impacts of risk-taking behaviour, competition and cost efficiency on bank profitability in China. Design/methodology/approach A two-step generalized method of moments system estimator is used to examine the impacts of risk, competition and cost efficiency on profitability of a sample of Chinese commercial banks over the period 2003-2013. Findings The paper finds that credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk, security risk and insolvency risk significantly influence the profitability of Chinese commercial banks. To be more specific, credit risk is significantly and negatively related to bank profitability; liquidity risk is significantly and positively related to return on assets (ROA) and net interest margin (NIM) but negatively related to return on equity (ROE); capital risk has a significant and negative impact on ROA and NIM but a positive impact on ROE; there is a significant and negative impact of security risk on bank profitability (ROA and NIM). It is found that Chinese commercial banks with higher levels of insolvency risk have higher profitability (ROA and ROE). Finally, higher competition leads to lower profitability in the Chinese banking industry, and Chinese commercial banks with higher levels of cost efficiency have lower ROA. In other words, the structure–conduct–performance paradigm rather than the efficient–structure paradigm holds in the Chinese banking industry. Originality/value This is the first paper to investigate the impact of different types of risk, including credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk, security risk and insolvency risk, on bank profitability. This is the first study which uses more accurate measurements of efficiency and competition compared to previous Chinese banking profitability literature and which tests their impact on bank profitability. The findings not only provide a general picture on the risk, efficiency and competition conditions in the Chinese banking industry, but also give valuable information to the Chinese Government and to the banking regulatory authorities to make relevant policies.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ejaz Aslam ◽  
Razali Haron

Purpose The existing literature asserted that the Islamic banking industry progress significantly, but it has increasingly found asset deficient which assaulted the performance of Islamic banks (IBs). The aim of this study to examine the mediating role of intellectual capital (IC) on the relationship between corporate governance (CG) mechanisms and IBs performance is examined (ATO, NPM). Design/methodology/approach A panel sample of 129 IBs is drawn from the 29 organisation of Islamic cooperation (OIC) countries from 2008 to 2017. Two-step system generalized method of moments (2SYS-GMM) was used to account for the unobserved endogeneity and heteroscedasticity problem. Findings The empirical findings demonstrate that there is a significant impact of the CG mechanism on IC. Moreover, the empirical findings indicate that CG has a direct influence on banking performance but it affects indirectly through IC. IC also appears to have a mediation role in the relationship between the CG mechanism and the performance of IBs. Research limitations/implications As the empirical research on IC from CG point of view in Islamic banking is generally new in the banking literature, the output of this research will contribute to the building up of empirical framework and practices regarding IC in the Islamic banking industry by using the resource-based theory as a leading theory and agency theory as a sub theory. It is anticipated that this study provided a superior comprehensive discussion of the IC in IBs across OIC countries which discovers the CG mechanism to influence the IC to improve banking performance. Practical implications This study offers useful insights to the regulators and practitioners to draw the rules and regulations in improving the CG mechanism and the effectiveness of internal controls by acknowledging the importance of IC in Islamic banking institutions. Particularly, the findings of this study may be of benefit to bankers to efficiently use the IC as a premise to design new and creative strategies to achieve a competitive advantage in the banking industry. Originality/value The study is unique in its nature because it presents a successful model for IBs to concentrate more on the role of IC in enhancing banking performance, which might be used by the banks to rearrange the roles within CG, to place their priorities regarding the internal governance system and financial plans for competency enhancement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Segun Thompson Bolarinwa ◽  
Funmi Soetan

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of corruption on bank profitability. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts panel cointegration, differenced generalized method of moments (GMM) and system GMM. Findings The empirical results show that corruption is important in explaining the profitability of commercial banks in both developed and emerging countries. While it has mixed effects in emerging countries, only positive effect is validated in developed countries. Research limitations/implications Macroeconomic measures of corruption are adopted in the study. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature on corruption and bank profitability by reporting evidence from both developed and developing countries. Existing papers have only concentrated on developing countries.


Author(s):  
Rim Ben Selma Mokni ◽  
Houssem Rachdi

Purpose – Which of the banking stream is relatively more profitable in Middle Eastern and North Africa (MENA) region? Design/methodology/approach – The empirical study covers a sample of 15 conventional and 15 Islamic banks for the period 2002-2009.The authors estimate models using the generalized method of moments in system, of Blundell and Bond (1998). They exploit an up-to-date econometric technique which takes into consideration the issue of endogeneity of regressors to evaluate the comparative profitability of Islamic and conventional banks in the MENA region. Findings – Empirical analysis results show that the determinants’ significance varies between Islamic and conventional banks. Profitability seems to be quite persistent in the MENA region reflecting a higher degree of government intervention and may signal barriers to competition. Originality/value – The main interest is to develop a comprehensive model that integrates macroeconomic, industry-specific and bank-specific determinants. The paper makes comparison of the performance between two different banking systems in the MENA region. The authors consider a variable crisis to gain additional insights into the impacts of the financial crisis on MENA banking sector.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Hamdoun ◽  
Mohamed Akli Achabou ◽  
Sihem Dekhili

Purpose This paper aims to examine the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance in the context of developing countries. More specifically, the mediating role of a firm’s competitive advantage and intangible resources, namely, human capital and reputation are studied. Design/methodology/approach The study considered a sample of 100 Tunisian firms. The analysis makes use of the structural equation modelling method to explore the relationship between CSR and financial performance, by including mediator variables. Findings The results confirm that CSR has no significant direct effect on financial performance. In particular, they indicate that the social dimension of CSR has a negative impact on performance. However, CSR does have a positive impact on competitive advantage via the two intangible resources considered, human capital and company reputation. Research limitations/implications The research fills a gap that occurred in the previous literature. In effect, previous studies focussed only on the direct link between CSR and financial performance. In addition, it enriches the limited literature on CSR strategies in the context of developing countries. However, further studies should explore the opposite relationship, i.e. the impact of financial performance on CSR strategy. In addition, the authors believe that amongst other potential research avenues, it would be interesting to study the moderating role of the activity sector. Practical implications From a practical point of view, this study suggests new applications with respect to the link between CSR and financial performance. To enhance their company’s financial performance, managers need to ensure that intangible resources are managed efficiently. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by examining how a firm’s intangible resources mediate between CSR and competitive advantage and how competitive advantage mediates between intangible resources and financial performance. Second originality is related to the study of the link between CSR and the financial performance of business organisations in the context of a developing country.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Navendu Prakash ◽  
Shveta Singh ◽  
Seema Sharma

PurposeThis paper empirically examines the short-term and long-term associations between risk, capital and efficiency (R-C-E) in the Indian banking sector across 2008–2019 to answer the presence of causation or contemporaneousness in the R-C-E nexus.Design/methodology/approachThe paper focuses on three objectives. First, the authors determine short-term causality in the risk–efficiency relationship by studying the simultaneous influence of a wide array of banking risks on DEA-based technical and cost efficiency in static and dynamic situations. Second, the authors introduce bank capital and contemporaneously determine the interplay between R-C-E using seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) and three-staged least squares (3SLS). Last, the authors assess stability in inter-temporal associations using Granger causality in an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) generalized method of moments (GMM) framework.FindingsThe authors contend that high capital buffers reduce insolvency risk and increase bank stability. Technically efficient banks carry lesser equity buffers, suggesting a trade-off between capital and efficiency. However, capitalization makes banks more technically efficient but not cost-efficient, implying that over-capitalization creates cost inefficiencies, which, in line with the cost skimping hypothesis, forces banks to undertake risk. Concerning causal relationships, the authors conclude that inefficiency Granger-causes insolvency and increases bank risk. Further, steady increases in capital precede technical and cost efficiency improvements. The converse also holds as more efficient banks depict temporal increases in capitalization levels.Originality/valueThe paper is perhaps the first that acknowledges the influence of the “time” perspective on the R-C-E nexus in an emerging economy and advocates that prudential regulations must focus on short-term and long-term intricacies among the triumvirate to foster a stable banking environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moncef Guizani ◽  
Ahdi Noomen Ajmi

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how Islamic banks' financing affects corporate investment efficiency.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the research purpose, an empirical model was constructed to describe the relationship between Islamic banks' financing and corporate investment efficiency. The empirical model was tested through generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique using a panel data of 163 Malaysian listed firms for the period 2007–2017.FindingsThis study provides evidence that Islamic banks' financing plays an important role in enhancing investment efficiency and that this positive effect comes mainly from non-PLS contracts. Moreover, the results show that the effect of Islamic banks' financing in preventing suboptimal investments is stronger in the financial crisis period. The results also reveal that the contribution of Islamic banks' financing in reducing suboptimal investments is more prominent when firms face over-investment problems.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to the debate on the financial implications of Islamic banks' financing modes by exploring their effect on corporate investment efficiency.Practical implicationsFrom a managerial perspective, the research findings are beneficial to Islamic bank managers to the extent that they highlight the role of Islamic financial contracts in improving corporate investment efficiency. In addition, the lower effect of PLS contracts on investment efficiency implies that policymakers in Malaysia should multiply their efforts to further expand the PLS financing.Originality/valueThis paper offers some insights on the role of Islamic banks' financing in mitigating agency conflicts and reducing asymmetric information problems. It is the first attempt focusing on the role of Islamic financing in fostering corporate investment decisions.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Quoc Hoi ◽  
Hương Lan Trần

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the credit composition and income inequality reduction in Vietnam. In particular, the authors focus on the distinction between policy and commercial credits and investigate whether these two types of credit had adverse effects on income inequality. The authors also examine whether the impact of policy credit on income inequality is conditioned by the educational level and institutional quality.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the primary data set, which contains a panel of 60 provinces collected from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam from 2002 to 2016. The authors employ the generalized method of moments to solve the endogenous problem.FindingsThe authors show that while commercial credit increases income inequality, policy credit contributes to reducing income inequality in Vietnam. In addition, we provide evidence that the institutional quality and educational level condition the impact of policy credit on income inequality. Based on the findings, the paper implies that it was not the size of the private credit but its composition that mattered in reducing income inequality, due to the asymmetric effects of different types of credit.Originality/valueThis is the first study that examines the links between the two components of credit and income inequality as well as constraints of the links. The authors argue that analyzing the separate effects of commercial and policy credits is more important for explaining the role of credit in income inequality than the size of total credit.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnedinma Umeokafor ◽  
Chioma Okoro ◽  
Ikechukwu Diugwu ◽  
Tariq Umar

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical opportunities for design for safety (DFS), the potential statutory (and non-statutory) health and safety (H&S) responsibilities of designers including DFS and its workability in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachInterviews were conducted among 28 multi-designers including Architects, Civil Engineers and Builders and the data was analysed thematically.FindingsThe study revealed that the likelihood of designers, clients, etc. inclining to change because of the infancy stage of H&S in developing countries, making it “fallow” for H&S was a barrier. The opportunities for DFS include the willingness of designers to develop DFS skills and knowledge, which results in a welcoming attitude towards DFS. Further, the success recorded by professional bodies on other regulatory matters and designers' greater inclination to comply with DFS when professional bodies are involved in the regulatory process of DFS remain key opportunities for DFS.Practical implicationsFor statutory-backed DFS to achieve the objective at the optimum level, the role of professional bodies in the regulatory and sensitisation processes, geographic differences in DFS legislation enforcement, nuanced and strategic design and enforcement of any legislation that will support DFS should be taken into consideration.Social implicationsA grassroots collaborative approach to developing and implementing DFS in the country and the exploitation of the zeal of designers to have DFS-related knowledge, is recommended.Originality/valueTo the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that examines the opportunities for DFS in developing countries when it is (or not) supported by statute and the need to advance the understanding of DFS in developing countries through qualitative enquiry.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashish Pandey

Purpose This study aims to examine some of the commonly proposed deviants associated with the banking industry in the context of the capital structure puzzle. The paper considers the role of guarantees, information asymmetry and other frictional factors in the context of modern financial markets and examines whether these factors deserve special consideration in solving the capital structure puzzle for banks. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt the argumentation theory model proposed by Toulmin (1958) as the methodological approach in this paper. Findings The findings from this paper demonstrate that any solution to the capital structure puzzle, whenever available, will also solve the capital structure puzzle for banks without additional efforts. The focus of future research should be on solving the generic capital structure puzzle for a universal set of firms rather than focusing on the banking industry as a subset with unique features. Originality/value The paper adopts a novel methodological approach offered by argumentation theory to pursue the enquiry. To the best of the knowledge, this paper is the first paper in the finance literature that uses argumentation theory to develop a theoretical construct. The finding from this study offers guidance for the proliferation of research paradigms in the capital structure puzzle.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document