Issue #4 (Volume 17 2022)

This paper analyzes the importance of size and capital for risk-taking incentives of Jordanian banks using panel data of 13 commercial banks for the period 2007–2017. The results reveal that size and capital add to stability, consistent with the economies of scale and scope hypothesis. In developing countries, banks are more conservative and less involved in market-based activities; however, they are interconnected just as in developed countries. The results of the first model and second model reveal that as size increases by 1 percent, risk decreases by 0.11 percent and 0.03 percent, respectively, implying that too-big-to-fail is not present and that moral hazard is not a serious issue. In both models, large size is driven by diversification not by risk-taking incentives. In terms of capital, the results of the first model and second model reveal that as capital increases by 1 percent, risk decreases by 0.48 and 0.12 percent, respectively. The fact that Jordanian banks are overcapitalized indicates that the central bank regulation is not binding. Banks increase their capital adequacy ratios to reduce risk. It is clear that there is economic benefit from increased size. However, the failures of large banks are systemic due to their interconnectedness. Therefore, regulators need to pay special attention to them in accordance with Basel III Accord.

Banking plays an important role in business and economic growth. However, since a couple decades ago, there have been issues with efficiency and performance. This paper aims to examine Indonesia’s Islamic banking performance through non-parametric production efficiency analysis before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, 2010–2021. This study differentiated between different dimensions of Indonesia’s Islamic banks (IIB) finance and non-finance aspects, as well as investigated the relationships between these dimensions of finance, including assets, deposits, equity, financing, and income, and non-financial variables, namely employees and offices. Non-parametric analysis, with the input-oriented variable constant return to scale (CRS) and returns to scale (VRS) models as a framework, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to calculate the IIB of overall, pure, and scale efficiency. However, the resources of technology IIB management are lacking, as well as macroeconomic and environmental effects. This study found that IIB operational needs to enhance investment in technology beyond the office. This means that the number of offices has a smaller impact on enhancing deposits and revenue. Technology investment has a crucial role in enhancing IIB equity, income, and innovation service. As a result, IIB managers and policymakers must improve their efficiency scores in order to increase competition and innovation. Furthermore, IIB needs to increase and spend their assets and experience to enhance technology, which significantly affects efficiency.

There is some level of uncertainty as to whether private sector credit interacts with finance sources for growth to significantly influence channeling funds for investible purposes in Nigeria, given the nation’s unique characteristics. This study examines the role of various sources of growth finance on private sector credit in Nigeria. For this purpose, the study utilizes secondary data (1980–2018) sourced from CBN statistical annual reports. The study further employs the ARDL-Bounds Co-integration test to test out the hypothesis after stationarity testing. The study finds that stock market capitalization had a positive and significant influence on private sector credit compared to remittance inflows and gross domestic savings in the long run among the sources of growth finance indicators. Furthermore, remittance inflows reported a positive but statistically insignificant relationship, while gross domestic savings had a negative and insignificant coefficient. The study concludes that only stock market development inflow transmits to the private sector’s credit at 10 percent among the various growth finance sources.

Like any other business, commercial banks are greatly affected by the micro and macro-environment that operate in, no matter how large they are. Capital adequacy ratio, credit risk, money supply, inflation, the exchange rate, and the national gross domestic product have been noted to be the key determinants of bank operational efficiency. This research study looked at the operational efficiency of four large South African banks, namely, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank, and First National Bank. A quantitative, descriptive, correlation design was employed, and the System-Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) techniques were used and revealed that operational efficiency was positively correlated with capital adequacy ratio, credit risk, inflation, and exchange rate, and negatively correlated with profitability, money supply and GDP. SYS-GMM estimates show that capital adequacy ratio, credit risk, inflation and exchange rate positively influenced operational efficiency, while profitability, money supply (M3) and GDP had a negative influence. Thus, it is concluded that bank management should decrease administrative costs, evaluate customers’ creditworthiness before issuing loans, raise bank size as operational conditions require, boost intermediation, and anticipate inflation to operate more efficiently.

This study utilizes logistic regression to identify annual financial statement and performance ratio factors that influenced the failure rate of U.S. small banks before and after the Financial Crisis identified during December 2007 through June, 2009. The study includes rates of small bank failure before and Financial Crisis spanning the years 2001 through 2014. The aim of the paper is to describe in large increase in U.S. small bank failure after the Financial Crisis. The Financial Crisis created drastic sustained changes of the financial system that were designed for large financial institutions. These changes may have created undue hardship for small banks and elevated the rate of small bank failures in the post-Financial Crisis period. Post-Financial Crisis bank failures had lower capital ratios and increased loan portfolio risk relative to the prior period. The combined effect of expansionist monetary policy, increased regulatory costs, and possession of illiquid real estate assets contributed to the higher rate of failure. The identification of factors that contribute to the increase in small bank failures after the Financial Crisis should assist bank managers, policy analysts, and scholars in developing alternative solutions for the future.

The current study investigates the efficiency of banks in Saudi Arabia in terms of technical change and change in total productivity. The study considers ten banks listed on Tadawul as a sample from 2016 to 2021. The Malmquist Data Envelopment Analysis (Malmquist DEA) model is employed to measure banks’ efficiency. Customer deposits and balances with other banks and financial institutions are inputs, while the operating profit and net income are outputs to measure efficiency. The results of efficiency report that most of the Saudi Arabian banks are considerably efficient, while some are marginally efficient. The technical change report results show that Saudi Arabia’s banks are enthusiastic about adopting new technologies that lead to their growth. Further, the results of the change in total productivity show great dynamism among the Saudi Arabian banks to become more productive, which ultimately leads to a more remarkable performance. The study results demonstrate the good performance of Saudi Arabian banks; however, very few banks are marginally efficient in terms of efficiency change. Therefore, the study supports the established hypothesis that there is a significant change in the technical efficiency and total productivity of Saudi Arabian banks.

Acknowledgment
The author(s) acknowledge that the Deanship of Scientific Research supports the current project at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University under research project number 2022/02/20810.

This study examines the determinants of Islamic banks’ non-performing financing from the perspective of regional and sectoral aspects during the periods before and during the pandemic. The study adopts a dynamic panel data analysis, namely the Generalized Method of Moments, and assesses panel data from the Indonesian banking industry in 32 provinces from October 2018 to July 2021 on a monthly basis. The study uses non-performing financing as the dependent variable and regional inflation, total financing, financing to deposit ratio, and Islamic bank size as the dependent variables. The findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic generally influenced the performance of non-performing financing in Islamic banks. This was evident in the significant relationship between regional inflation, total financing, financing to deposit ratio, and the non-performing financing value. Moreover, in the sectoral analysis, a different level of impact was observed in each sector. The most severe impact was seen in the construction sector, while other sectors were less affected during the pandemic. The regional analysis shows that all provinces on Java Island, as the epicenter of the pandemic in Indonesia, did not perform better than the provinces outside Java. Concerning policy implications, the Indonesian Financial Services Authority must be more aware of the determinants of Islamic banks’ non-performing financing by considering sectoral and regional aspects. Furthermore, sectoral and regional-based policies should be developed to achieve and maintain the performance of Islamic banks’ non-performing financing.

Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Pusat Pengembangan Ekonomi (PPE), Faculty of Business and Economics, Universitas Islam Indonesia No. 259/KajurIE/XII/2021 for support and providing a research grant for the study

Liquidity has an impact on short-term yields, which makes it a key determinant of monetary transmission. The aim of the research was to examine how the increase in the banking system’s liquidity and its distribution within the banking system affects yields. To better understand this relationship, this analysis gives an econometric estimate of the interbank liquidity demand function. The research covers Hungary being a representative of small, open, emerging market economies. The analysis is based on segmented regressions, the study covers the period 2016–2020 regarding overnight interest rates. The slope of the demand function is negative, the coefficients decrease with the increase in excess reserves. The most significant breakpoints of the demand curve are detected around 0.83% and 1.53% of M2 in excess liquidity. There is a correlation between the level of excess reserves and its distribution and concentration. The distribution of liquidity became more balanced along with the increase in excess liquidity. The saturation of the banking system depends on the concentration of liquidity among banks. The results can be useful for other small and open emerging market economies with abundant liquidity, especially in the coming tightening cycle.

The deposit insurance market is an essential subsystem of Ukraine’s financial infrastructure. The study aims to evaluate the development of deposit insurance in Ukraine based on the depth of deposit insurance, the implementation of the deposit guarantee function, the activity of the banking system and to identify their impact on the development of deposit insurance at various stages.
To determine the periods of deposit insurance in Ukraine, it was proposed to use the methodological toolkit of cluster analysis, having carried out the following stages: selecting input-defining features, variable standardization, applying the Ward procedure for the formation of clusters-periods, and financial and analytical interpretation of the results and characteristics of the periods obtained. Approbation of the proposed scientific and systematic approach allowed drawing conclusions regarding four stages of the development of deposit insurance in Ukraine from 2005–2020: completion of the formation (2005–2007), formedness and activity (2008–2013), performance under pressure (2014–2016), stabilization (2017–2020). While the first two stages, completion of formation and formedness and activity, were followed by a synchronous and slight increase in the level of the depth of the insurance system, the implementation of the deposit guarantee function and the activity of the banking system, the period of performance under pressure and the stabilization period demonstrated a desynchronization between the components.
The completion of the formation of deposit insurance (2005−2007) was followed by a synchronous and slight increase in the level of the depth of the insurance system, the implementation of the deposit guarantee function and the activity of the banking system.

Acknowledgment
Alina Bukhtiarova gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (0120U100473).
We are thankful to the Czech government support provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, which allowed this scientific cooperation to start within the project “Enhancement of the PhD Students Potential For Qualitative Research In Ukraine”.

Banking stability plays an important role as an intermediary in the economy. Both the economy and the banking sector affect each other. This study aims to investigate the effect and response of external variables and internal bank variables on Non-Performing Loans at Conventional Commercial Banks and Non-Performing Financing at Islamic Commercial Banks. This study uses macroeconomic variables such as economic growth and inflation, while a bank’s internal variables include the Loan to Deposit Ratio, Financing to Deposit Ratio, and Capital Buffer. This study employs Vector Autoregressive Regression (VAR) to examine the time series data. The results showed that the variable Economic Growth at lag-1, Loan to Deposit Ratio at lag-1, and Capital Buffer at lag-2 significantly affect Non-Performing Loans. While the variable that has a significant effect on Non-Performing Financing is only Economic Growth at lag-1. In addition, as can be seen from the Impulse Response Function curve, Non-Performing Financing tends to be more stable toward shocks from the variables used than Non-Performing Loans. The findings suggest that banks are encouraged to be more selective in loan disbursement and maintain minimal capital adequacy by taking into account the principle of prudence and referring to the bank’s health criteria.

Economic theory posits that competition drives efficiency; the extent to which this is true in an oligopolistic audit market poses an empirical challenge. Furthermore, studies have postulated that both traditional and modern industrial organization theories are relevant for analyzing market competition. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of static and dynamic audit market competition on audit efficiency in the Nigerian banking industry. Secondary data were obtained from the audited annual financial statements of 12 banks from 2006 to 2020. The study adopted a 2-stage regression model; in the first stage, the audit efficiency scores were derived from an output-based, variable-return-to-scale version of data envelopment analysis (DEA) comprising audit report lag and audit fees as audit input variables and audit quality as the audit output variable. The efficiency scores were regressed on audit market competition and some control variables in the second stage via the bootstrapped truncated regression technique to analyze the effect of competition on efficiency in the audit market. The results showed a positive association between static competition and audit efficiency (50.57, p = 0.014). Because high concentration implied low competition, this finding implied that efficiency was impaired because of a lack of significant competition. The results also showed a positive and significant association between dynamic competition and efficiency, which implied that dynamic competition enhanced efficiency (0.21, p = 0.000) in the audit market. The study concluded that static competition impairs efficiency, while dynamic competition ensures efficiency in the Nigerian banking industry.

The study attempts to identify the determinants of lending rates in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It examines the impact of certain macroeconomic and banks’ aggregate data variables on the level of interest rates on loans charged by Bahraini conventional retail banks using quarterly data for the period from the 4th quarter of 2012 to the 4th quarter of 2021. The study tests the impact of a consumer price index (CPI), GDP growth rates, loan-to-total assets (loan ratio), liquid assets as a proportion of total assets (liquidity position), personal lending rate, loan-to-deposit ratio, money supply (M2) growth, non-performing loans (NPL) ratio, and return on assets (ROA) on banks’ lending rates. The study is mainly based on data retrieved from the publications of the Central Bank of Bahrain and the CEIC Data Global Database. The study uses EViews 12 The results reveal that CPI, liquidity position, the lending rate for personal loans, deposit ratio, and return on assets are the major determinants of bank lending rates to businesses. The study found that GDP growth, money supply growth, and non-performing loans ratio are insignificant in determining the lending rate to businesses in Bahrain. In addition to yielding insights to the respective authorities, this study also helps creditors, investors, and borrowers predict interest rates and thus manage their assets and liabilities more efficiently.

The paper proposes a model for quantitatively analyzing the link between Privacy, Usability, Government Support, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Intention to Use and Commitment in the online banking context in Pakistan. In Pakistan (comparing to the size of bank accounts open), few people benefit from online banking and prefer the physical approach. This study analyzes how conventional banking users can be converted to online users, thus reducing the crowds at banks for menial tasks, giving banks more time to focus on corporate clients. For this purpose, an online survey was distributed via social messengers and websites. Out of the collected data, 310 normalized samples were analyzed using correlation and multiple linear regressions. The findings showed that except “Privacy”, “Usability” and “Government Support” had a relationship with “Perceived Ease of Use” where “Privacy” showed no significant impact. “Privacy” had a significant relationship with “Perceived Usefulness”, as did “Perceived Ease of Use”, and “Perceived Usefulness” and “Perceived Ease of Use” had a significant relationship with “Intention to Use”; “Intention” also had a significant relationship with “Commitment to Use Online Banking”. Thus, it is concluded that banks need to realize that bank customers require ease of access and use in order to successfully adapt to the use of online banking, despite the users not being very cautious about online privacy that banks require to ensure on their end, regardless of the user’s thought process.

The modernization of banking is a challenge brought about by significant technological advances in information technology. This situation should be followed by high-quality products, prompt service, and the use of digital tools to assist consumers in their financial operations. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the connection between customer satisfaction in the Peruvian financial industry and service quality in electronic banking. A questionnaire with 24 items was given to 346 participants as part of a quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional, and non-experimental methodology. Data were processed using the SPSS program and descriptive and correlational statistics (Spearman’s coefficient). The results indicate that 45.1% of respondents do not think digital banking is simple to use, 60.1% disagree with accessibility, and 63.9% do not think the website’s organization is attractive. Nevertheless, these findings can be used to inform changes that will benefit users and serve as a warning for institutions to make better decisions. The hypothesis test indicates that there is a positive and significant correlation between the e-banking service quality variables and customer satisfaction, leading to the conclusion that the majority of customers are not satisfied with the e-banking service of the financial institution under study.

Earnings management is the practice of adjusting accounting policies to change earnings. It affects the earnings of the banking industry, including listed commercial banks. It also reduces the trust of investors because the information provided is unreasonable for the bank system. Corporate governance as a management organization can prevent earnings management in the banking industry. The paper aims to consider the impact of corporate governance on the earnings management of listed commercial banks in Vietnam. The paper uses a time series of ten years from 2012 to 2021. The research uses experiments to test the hypothesis of the model. The result finds three factors positively affect the earnings management of listed commercial banks, including the number of members, professional qualifications, and meetings of the board of directors. The number of members is the strongest influence on earnings management, while the professional qualifications have the lowest effect. The results also demonstrate that listed commercial banks have practiced earnings management in recent years. From there, the paper proposes some policies to prevent the earnings management of listed commercial banks to improve the quality of information.