Does Uniqueness in Banking Matter?

46 Pages Posted: 8 Aug 2017 Last revised: 23 Sep 2018

See all articles by (Frank) Hong Liu

(Frank) Hong Liu

University of Glasgow - Adam Smith Business School

Lars Norden

Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) - Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (EBAPE); Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) - FGV/EPGE Escola Brasileira de Economia e Finanças

Fabrizio Spargoli

Rotterdam School of Management

Date Written: September 12, 2018

Abstract

We investigate whether and how the uniqueness of banking activities affects the performance and systemic risk of U.S. banks. We find that banks performing more unique activities exhibit higher profitability and lower risk, controlling for size, diversification, and other key characteristics. We further find that banks’ sensitivity to systemic risk displays an inversely U-shaped relation with activity uniqueness. We interpret the impact of uniqueness in analogy to recent theories showing that systemic diversity promotes financial stability. Our study highlights the role of uniqueness in banking and has important implications for policy makers and banking regulators.

Keywords: Banks, Performance, Systemic Risk, Diversification, Diversity

JEL Classification: G20, G21

Suggested Citation

Liu, (Frank) Hong and Norden, Lars and Spargoli, Fabrizio, Does Uniqueness in Banking Matter? (September 12, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3014184 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3014184

(Frank) Hong Liu

University of Glasgow - Adam Smith Business School

Glasgow, Scotland
United Kingdom

Lars Norden (Contact Author)

Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) - Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (EBAPE) ( email )

Rua Jornalista Orlando Dantas 30
Rio de Janeiro, 22231-010
Brazil
+552130832431 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.larsnorden.de

Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) - FGV/EPGE Escola Brasileira de Economia e Finanças ( email )

Praia de Botafogo 190/1125, CEP
Rio de Janeiro RJ 22253-900
Brazil

Fabrizio Spargoli

Rotterdam School of Management ( email )

Rotterdam
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/fabriziospargolisresearchsite/

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