Depositor discipline, financial crisis and macroprudential policies

Purpose - Using bank-level data on MENA countries during 2000-2016, this study aims to examine the role and relevance of macroprudential policies in affecting depositor discipline. Design/methodology/approach - The author uses the dynamic panel data methodology as compared to alternate techniques, owing to the ability of this technique to effectively address the endogeneity problem of some of the independent variables. Findings - The findings suggest that market discipline for MENA banks occurs primarily through deposit rates. During the crisis, depositors typically focus on a catch-all measure of bank performance. Second, macroprudential policies play a role in influencing market discipline. Third, the behavior of depositors in exercising market discipline is more pronounced in countries with high Islamic banking share and works mainly through the price channel. Originality/value - To the best of author’s knowledge, this is one of the early studies for MENA countries to examine this issue in a systematic manner. By focusing on an extended sample of MENA country banks covering an extensive period that subsumes the global financial crisis, author’s analysis is able to shed light on the relevance of macroprudential policies in affecting depositor discipline.