IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2012-140.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Financial Intermediation Costs in Low-Income Countries: The Role of Regulatory, Institutional, and Macroeconomic Factors

Author

Listed:
  • Mr. Tigran Poghosyan

Abstract

We analyze factors driving persistently higher financial intermediation costs in low-income countries (LICs) relative to emerging market (EMs) country comparators. Using the net interest margin as a proxy for financial intermediation costs at the bank level, we find that within LICs a substantial part of the variation in interest margins can be explained by bank-specific factors: margins tend to increase with higher riskiness of credit portfolio, lower bank capitalization, and smaller bank size. Overall, we find that concentrated market structures and lack of competition in LICs banking systems and institutional weaknesses constitute the key impediments preventing financial intermediation costs from declining. Our results provide strong evidence that policies aimed at fostering banking competition and strengthening institutional frameworks can reduce intermediation costs in LICs.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Tigran Poghosyan, 2012. "Financial Intermediation Costs in Low-Income Countries: The Role of Regulatory, Institutional, and Macroeconomic Factors," IMF Working Papers 2012/140, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2012/140
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=25949
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jith Jayaratne & Philip E. Strahan, 1996. "The Finance-Growth Nexus: Evidence from Bank Branch Deregulation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 639-670.
    2. Fungáčová, Zuzana & Poghosyan, Tigran, 2011. "Determinants of bank interest margins in Russia: Does bank ownership matter?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 481-495.
    3. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Laeven, Luc & Levine, Ross, 2004. "Regulations, Market Structure, Institutions, and the Cost of Financial Intermediation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 36(3), pages 593-622, June.
    4. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    5. repec:zbw:bofitp:2009_022 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Maudos, Joaquin & Fernandez de Guevara, Juan, 2004. "Factors explaining the interest margin in the banking sectors of the European Union," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 2259-2281, September.
    7. Bun, Maurice J.G. & Kiviet, Jan F., 2006. "The effects of dynamic feedbacks on LS and MM estimator accuracy in panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 409-444, June.
    8. Allen, Linda, 1988. "The Determinants of Bank Interest Margins: A Note," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(2), pages 231-235, June.
    9. Claessens, Stijn & Demirguc-Kunt, Asl[iota] & Huizinga, Harry, 2001. "How does foreign entry affect domestic banking markets?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 891-911, May.
    10. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Zoido-Lobaton, Pablo, 2002. "Governance matters II - updated indicators for 2000-01," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2772, The World Bank.
    11. Barth, James R. & Caprio,Gerard & Levine, Ross, 2001. "The regulation and supervision of banks around the world - a new database," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2588, The World Bank.
    12. Barajas, Adolfo & Steiner, Roberto & Salazar, Natalia, 2000. "The impact of liberalization and foreign investment in Colombia's financial sector," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 157-196, October.
    13. Ho, Thomas S. Y. & Saunders, Anthony, 1981. "The Determinants of Bank Interest Margins: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 581-600, November.
    14. Brock, Philip L. & Rojas Suarez, Liliana, 2000. "Understanding the behavior of bank spreads in Latin America," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 113-134, October.
    15. Barth, James R. & Caprio, Gerard Jr. & Levine, Ross, 2004. "Bank regulation and supervision: what works best?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 205-248, April.
    16. Beck, Thorsten & Hesse, Heiko, 2009. "Why are interest spreads so high in Uganda?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 192-204, March.
    17. Poghosyan, Tigran, 2010. "Re-examining the impact of foreign bank participation on interest margins in emerging markets," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 390-403, December.
    18. Hayakawa, Kazuhiko, 2007. "Small sample bias properties of the system GMM estimator in dynamic panel data models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 32-38, April.
    19. Mrs. Ruby Randall, 1998. "Interest Rate Spreads in the Eastern Caribbean," IMF Working Papers 1998/059, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Mr. Adolfo Barajas & Ms. Natalia Salazar & Mr. Roberto Steiner, 1999. "Foreign Investment in Colombia’s Financial Sector," IMF Working Papers 1999/150, International Monetary Fund.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Birchwood, Anthony & Brei, Michael & Noel, Dorian M., 2017. "Interest margins and bank regulation in Central America and the Caribbean," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 56-68.
    2. Florian Leon, 2015. "What do we know about the role of bank competition in Africa?," CERDI Working papers halshs-01164864, HAL.
    3. Raja Almarzoqi & Sami Ben Naceur, 2015. "Determinants of Bank Interest Margins in the Caucasus and Central Asia," IMF Working Papers 2015/087, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Trinugroho, Irwan & Agusman, Agusman & Tarazi, Amine, 2014. "Why have bank interest margins been so high in Indonesia since the 1997/1998 financial crisis?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 139-158.
    5. Mansor H. Ibrahim & Siong Hook Law, 2019. "Financial Intermediation Costs In A Dual Banking System: The Role Of Islamic Banking," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 22(4), pages 531-552, December.
    6. Bismark Addai & Wenjin Tang & Adjei Gyamfi Gyimah & Kingsley Opoku Appiah, 2023. "Bank intermediation margins in transition banking domains: panel evidence from Africa," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2129-2167, August.
    7. Poghosyan, Tigran, 2010. "Re-examining the impact of foreign bank participation on interest margins in emerging markets," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 390-403, December.
    8. Laeven, Luc & Majnoni, Giovanni, 2005. "Does judicial efficiency lower the cost of credit?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1791-1812, July.
    9. López-Espinosa, Germán & Moreno, Antonio & Pérez de Gracia, Fernando, 2011. "Banks' Net Interest Margin in the 2000s: A Macro-Accounting international perspective," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1214-1233, October.
    10. Claeys, Sophie & Vander Vennet, Rudi, 2008. "Determinants of bank interest margins in Central and Eastern Europe: A comparison with the West," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 197-216, June.
    11. Anthony Birchwood & Michael Brei & Dorian Noel, 2016. "Bank interest margins and regulation in Central America and the Caribbean," Working Papers hal-04141575, HAL.
    12. Saona, Paolo, 2016. "Intra- and extra-bank determinants of Latin American Banks' profitability," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 197-214.
    13. Valente, José & Augusto, Mário & Murteira, José, 2024. "Differentiated impact of spread determinants by personal loan category: Evidence from the Brazilian banking sector," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PB), pages 299-315.
    14. Mitchener, Kris James & Wheelock, David C., 2013. "Does the structure of banking markets affect economic growth? Evidence from U.S. state banking markets," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 161-178.
    15. Koffie Ben Nassar & Edder Martinez & Anabel Pineda, 2014. "Determinants of Banks' Net Interest Margins in Honduras," IMF Working Papers 2014/163, International Monetary Fund.
    16. Fungáčová, Zuzana & Poghosyan, Tigran, 2011. "Determinants of bank interest margins in Russia: Does bank ownership matter?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 481-495.
    17. Pierluigi Bologna, 2017. "Banks’ maturity transformation: risk, reward, and policy," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1159, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Fungáčová, Zuzana & Poghosyan, Tigran, 2011. "Determinants of bank interest margins in Russia: Does bank ownership matter?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 481-495.
    19. Maria-Eleni K. Agoraki & Georgios P. Kouretas, 2019. "The determinants of net interest margin during transition," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 1005-1029, November.
    20. Gabriele Angori & David Aristei & Manuela Gallo, 2019. "Determinants of Banks’ Net Interest Margin: Evidence from the Euro Area during the Crisis and Post-Crisis Period," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-20, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    WP; interest margin; LICS bank; bank characteristic; dependent variable; Net Interest Margins; Banks; Low Income Countries; Emerging Economies; entry application; margin determinant; bank efficiency; intermediation service; Credit risk; Reserve requirements; Loan loss provisions; Inflation; Competition; Western Hemisphere;
    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
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2012/140. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.