This paper analyzes empirically what explains the low profitability of Chinese banks for the period 1997-2004. We find that better capitalized banks tend to be more profitable. The same is true for banks with a relatively larger share of deposits and for more X-efficient banks. In addition, a less concentrated banking system increases banks profitability, which basically reflects that the four state-owned commercial banks –China’s largest banks- have been the main drag for system’s profitability. We find the same negative influence for China’s development banks (so called Policy Banks), which are fully state-owned. Instead, more market oriented banks, such as joint-stock commercial banks, tend to be more profitable, which again points to the influence of government intervention in explaining bank performance in China. These findings should not come as a surprise for a banking system which has long been functioning as a mechanism for transferring huge savings to meet public policy goals.
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Paper provided by BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department in its series Working Papers with number
907.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002.
"Government Ownership of Banks,"
Journal of Finance,
American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 265-301, 02.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2001.
"Government Ownership of Banks,"
Working Paper Series
rwp01-016, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
[Downloadable!]
Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopezde-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2000.
"Government Ownership of Banks,"
NBER Working Papers
7620, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
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