Being a Member of a Cooperative Bank: Ethical of Financial Decision?

43 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 2015

See all articles by Damien Egarius

Damien Egarius

University of Strasbourg - EM Strasbourg Business School

Patrick Roger

Strasbourg University - LARGE Research Center - EM Strasbourg Business School

Date Written: June 4, 2015

Abstract

The definition of co-operative banks given by the International Cooperative Banking Association (ICBA) states that co-operative members, who buy and hold member shares, believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. Using a unique database of 246,120 clients/members at a cooperative bank, we show that the trading volume of member shares is far from negligible. The analysis of clients’ portfolios over a 13-month period shows that clients use member shares as standard savings and investment vehicles. These results show that the reasons given by the ICBA to become a member of a cooperative bank are unimportant in the decision process.

Keywords: Cooperative Banks, Bank Membership, Capital requirements, Investor Behavior.

JEL Classification: G21, G32, P13

Suggested Citation

Egarius, Damien and Roger, Patrick, Being a Member of a Cooperative Bank: Ethical of Financial Decision? (June 4, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2614508 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2614508

Damien Egarius

University of Strasbourg - EM Strasbourg Business School ( email )

PEGE
61 avenue de la Forêt Noire
Strasbourg, 67000
France

Patrick Roger (Contact Author)

Strasbourg University - LARGE Research Center - EM Strasbourg Business School ( email )

PEGE
61 avenue de la Forêt Noire
Strasbourg, 67000
France

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