The impact of bank ownership on lending behavior: Evidence from the 2008–2009 financial crisis

This paper investigates the lending behavior of banks with different ownership types (domestic‐private, foreign, and government‐owned) during normal and financial crisis periods. Using panel data for the period 2004–2013, our results indicate that the 2008–2009 crisis caused a negative shock to banking sector loan growth rates which was considerably higher during 2008 compared to 2009. Although loan supply decreased during the crisis, there were differences under different ownership types and between high and upper‐middle income countries. Our findings suggest that consumer and retail loans declined significantly more in high income economies compared to upper‐middle income countries. Further, in upper‐middle income economies, the reduction in consumer and retail loans in 2009 was higher under foreign bank ownership in comparison to domestic‐private bank ownership. Overall, the results indicate that the lending behavior of banks with different types of ownership is significantly different in upper middle income countries compared to high‐income countries.