What Determines the Composition of Banks' Loan Portfolios? Evidence from Transition Countries
45 Pages Posted: 17 Dec 2007 Last revised: 9 Apr 2010
Date Written: August 6, 2009
Abstract
This paper explores how bank characteristics and the institutional environment influence the composition of banks’ loan portfolios. We use a new and unique data set based on the EBRD Banking Environment and Performance Survey (BEPS), which was conducted for 220 banks in 20 transition countries. We show that bank ownership, bank size, and legal creditor protection are important determinants of the composition of banks’ loan portfolios. In particular, we find that foreign banks play an active role in mortgage lending. Moreover, banks that perceive pledge and mortgage laws to be of high quality choose to focus more on mortgage lending.
Keywords: Foreign banks, SMEs, Legal environment, Portfolio composition
JEL Classification: F36, G21, K22, P27
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Relationship Lending and Lines of Credit in Small Firm Finance
By Allen N. Berger and Gregory F. Udell
-
Lines of Credit and Relationship Lending in Small Firm Finance
By Allen N. Berger and Gregory F. Udell
-
Information Production and Capital Allocation: Decentralized vs. Hierarchical Firms
-
Information Production and Capital Allocation: Decentralized vs. Hierarchical Firms
-
Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending
-
Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending
-
By Allen N. Berger, Philip E. Strahan, ...
-
By Allen N. Berger, Nathan Miller, ...
-
By Allen N. Berger, Nathan Miller, ...
-
By Allen N. Berger and Gregory F. Udell