International Evidence on the Determinants of Banks’ Home Sovereign Bond Holdings
Forthcoming in Journal of Financial Services Research
32 Pages Posted: 4 Sep 2019
Date Written: August 28, 2019
Abstract
In this paper, we examine the determinants of domestic sovereign debt bank holdings with a panel dataset of 295 banks in 35 countries between 2002 and 2013. The findings indicate that the structure of bank ownership (domestic, foreign, or government ownership), the quality of governance, and the level of financial development of the countries in which banks operate all determine the level of home bias. Specifically, we find that domestic banks tend to hold more domestic sovereign debt relative to their foreign counterparts. We also provide evidence that home bias is even stronger when the domestic bank is controlled by its government. Moreover, home bias increases when government bonds are more risky, home governments are less effective, and when banking systems are less financially developed. Overall, we find that banks’ home bias in holding sovereign debt is an international phenomenon that is determined by both bank- and country-specific factors.
Keywords: Sovereign Debt, Home Bias, Moral Suasion, Government Ownership
JEL Classification: G11, G21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation