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Loan Loss Provision: Some Empirical Evidence for Italian Banks

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  • Guglielmo Maria Caporale
  • Matteo Alessi
  • Stefano Di Colli
  • Juan Sergio Lopez

Abstract

This paper uses data from a panel of more than 400 Italian banks for the period 2001 – 2012 to examine the main determinants of loan loss provision (LLP), which are classified as either discretionary (income smoothing, capital management, signalling) or non-discretionary (related to the business cycle). The results suggest that LLP in Italian banks is driven mainly by non-discretionary components, especially during the recession of 2008-2012, and is consistent with a countercyclical behavior of LLP. Further, it is generally less pro–cyclical (although not during the recent economic crisis) in the case of local banks: since their loans are more collateralised, their behaviour is more strongly affected by supervisory activity, their initial coverage ratio being lower than for other banks.

Suggested Citation

  • Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Matteo Alessi & Stefano Di Colli & Juan Sergio Lopez, 2015. "Loan Loss Provision: Some Empirical Evidence for Italian Banks," CESifo Working Paper Series 5253, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5253
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    Cited by:

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    2. Amina Malik & Haroon Aziz & Buerhan Saiti & Shahab Ud Din, 2021. "The Impact of Earnings variability and Regulatory Measures on Income Smoothing: Evidence from Panel Regression," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 10(1), pages 183-201.
    3. Ozili, Peterson Kitakogelu, 2021. "Bank earnings management using loan loss provisions: comparing the UK, France, South Africa and Egypt," MPRA Paper 108506, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Ozili, Peterson K & Outa, Erick R, 2018. "Bank Income Smoothing in South Africa: Role of Ownership, IFRS and Economic fluctuation," MPRA Paper 102567, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ozili, Peterson K, 2018. "Banking Stability Determinants in Africa," MPRA Paper 101825, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Gropp, Reint E. & Park, Kyounghoon, 2016. "To Separate or not to Separate Investment from Commercial Banking? An Empirical Analysis of Attention Distortion under Multiple Tasks," IWH Discussion Papers 2/2016, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    loan loss provision; bank lending; financial system cyclicality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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