Bank Capital Inflows, Institutional Development and Risk: Evidence from Publicly-Traded Banks in Asia

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between bank capital inflows and financial stability. Using a sample of publicly-traded commercial banks in Asia over the 2002-2008 period, our empirical results show that higher banking inflows measured by the share of foreign liabilities in banking reduces systematic risk, but increases bank-specific risk and total risk. A deeper investigation further suggests that an increase in total risk and bank-specific risk is driven by strong institutional development. Specifically, higher foreign liabilities in banking exacerbate bank-specific risk and total risk in countries with greater economic freedom. Hence, the reinforcement of prudential regulations is necessary to overcome bank-specific risk and total risk, particularly when the countries move to a more liberal economic environment.

Keywords: banking globalization, economic freedom, capital market, measures of risk

JEL Classification: G21, G28, G38