Explore the vast range of titles available.

By lending at a shorter functional distance, regional banks are associated with enhanced access to soft information compared with large banks, thus allowing superior screening, which consequently reduces credit rationing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This article scrutinises this widespread assumed association, considering the ubiquitous application of rating systems that potentially reduce regional banks’ local credit-granting authority and obviate the necessity of proximity to reduce information asymmetries. Novel ethnographic insights into credit-decision processes, inter alia, of a regional operating savings bank and a large nationwide bank surprisingly reveal shorter functional distance of the large bank in approximately 50% of credit decisions because of the considerable credit-granting authority of local staff. Nevertheless, observations of soft information usage and credit-decision processes indicate that the regional bank is able to consider soft information when it most strongly influences lending decisions, i.e., when deciding whether to lend to financially distressed SMEs.

This study examines the reaction of the Standard and Poor's Regional Bank Index (SPRB) to the U.S. equity market fear index (i.e., the Chicago Board of Trade Volatility Index [VIX]). The VIX is designed to perform as a leading indicator of the volatility in equity markets. However, practitioners observe many periods of divergence between the VIX and S&P 500. Our paper examines the daily data for the period of 2009 through 2019. We show that once the effects of consumer confidence and capacity utilization are accounted for, there is a negative association between the VIX and regional bank performance.

PurposeThis study analyzes the role of regional cooperative banks in identifying and financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a proximity perspective. Access to finance is a major challenge for SMEs. Regional cooperative banks can remove this barrier based on cooperative bank's characteristics and geographic proximity to SMEs. Understanding the interplay between these financial actors and firms can contribute to a better support of SMEs development.Design/methodology/approachThe results are based on a case study of eight SMEs located in southwestern France. Interviews were conducted with two regional cooperative funds and eight SMEs. The interview guide included questions related to the company, the projects financed and how financing was accessed.FindingsResults reveal that a combination of three forms of proximity allows regional cooperative banks and SMEs to establish effective financing operations. They show that regional cooperative banks are key players in the existing financing mechanisms for SMEs. Such financing is often used to gain access to larger players at a later stage. The findings suggest the need for public policies that promote the integration of financing actors in regional ecosystems to advance SMEs' development.Originality/valueThis article examines how SMEs access financing, with a focus on regional cooperative banks, which have received little attention in the literature. Moreover, the relationships between these actors are studied through the lens of proximity. Regional cooperative banks are able to finance projects that may have been overlooked by traditional banks due to trust-building local dynamics.

This paper examines whether Japanese regional banks entering the banking market in other prefectures, including neighboring prefectures, can increase their lending-based income. To stimulate local economies and support local small- and medium-sized enterprises, the current Japanese Government's policies for regional banks require these banks to engage in region-based relationship banking practices. In this study, three lending-based income measures were used as dependent variables, and estimation was made using panel data from Japanese regional banks. As a result, it was determined that regional banks that enter markets in other prefectures experience positive effects in all three lending-based income measures. Moreover, it was determined that regional banks whose headquarters are located in non-urban areas derive greater benefit from their loan businesses upon entry into other prefectures, including neighboring prefectures, where economic activity is more vibrant than regional banks whose headquarters are located in urban areas.

In this study, we investigate the market characteristics of prefectures in which non-local regional banks of other prefectures choose to enter and their motivations for doing so, considering the Japanese government’s requirements for regional financial institutions to actively stimulate their local economies. In particular, by pooling prefecture-level data, the market characteristics of prefectures that experience more entrances by non-local regional banks compared with other prefectures are examined. It was found that entrance by non-local regional banks is more common in prefectures containing active high-performing companies. Hence, it can be considered that non-local regional banks that are not satisfied with lending opportunities in their home prefectures enter other prefectures to increase their lending opportunities to high-performing companies. This study contributes to the clarification of why many regional banks do not concentrate on businesses within their local regions and intentionally enter other prefectures, which is in contrast with the intent of the region-based relationship banking policy.

Regional bank branch management is the most important elements of a bank’s structure. Each regional bank branch manager (RBBM) manages a large group of branches. In this paper, we develop a bi-level structure for the evaluation of RBBMs. In the developed bi-level structure, RBBMs are positioned at the upper level, and each RBBM has a group of branches located at the lower level. Generally, each RBBM, including their branches, tries to use inputs and produce outputs efficiently. However, each branch performs according to its goals and limited resources. The evaluation is a data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based model that focuses on the bank’s consumption perspective. We apply the suggested model to a real-world case study to evaluate five RBBMs, who altogether manage 110 branches in one of the expert banking systems.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether branch expansions have realized efficiency gains by focussing on regional banks in Japan. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a single-step estimation procedure, where both cost frontier parameters and inefficiency effects are addressed simultaneously, and examine the impact of expanding branch networks on bank performance. Findings – The findings show that regional banks expanding their branch networks to certain levels exhibit lower cost inefficiencies. Robustness results are also obtained from the samples, excluding the regional banks located in urban regions. Originality/value – The findings suggest that adequate levels of branch expansion have beneficial impacts for regional banks, although this result is contrary to the current region-based relationship banking policy promoted by Japan’s financial regulators.

This research aims to investigate the impact of IFRS 9 adoption on the procyclicality and the role of the local leaders’ turnover in this relationship. The financial accelerator theory and institutional theory provide a theoretical basis for this research. Using the panel data of 175 Chinese regional commercial banks from 2019–2022, this research estimates fixed-effects regression models to compare the procyclicality under IAS 39 and IFRS 9. The results reveal that the adoption of IFRS 9 mitigated procyclicality. This provides additional empirical evidence to the mixed results of prior studies, which were based on European countries. Further, the result also indicates that the local leaders’ turnover hinders the countercyclical effect of IFRS 9. This suggests that despite IFRS 9 helping alleviate procyclicality, the presence of local leaders’ turnover impedes achieving the countercyclical objective. These results highlight the importance of stable local leadership to the countercyclical function of IFRS 9. This research extends the geographical scope of research on IFRS 9. It is the first research that investigates the relationship between IFRS 9 adoption and the procyclicality in a non-Euro country. This research also provides insights into the interplay between IFRS 9, procyclicality, and local leaders’ turnover, and reveals the effect of political institutions on accounting practice. Additionally, this research contributes to the financial accelerator theory and institutional theory by extending their application into the accounting field. Based on these findings, this research recommends measures to enhance policy continuity during political transitions, strengthen forward-looking data infrastructure, improve supervisory oversight of discretionary provisioning, and tailor prudential policies.

Introduction: The Regional Development Bank (BPD Bank) is expected to be a strong, highly competitive bank, which will contribute to the growth and even distribution of sustainable regional economies. Background Problem: A review by the Financial Service Authority (OJK) of the BPD Bank’s business growth indicates the low competitiveness of the BPD Bank, relative to other commercial banks. Novelty: Limited prior studies have been conducted on the profitability determinants of the BPD Bank, especially in Indonesia, and previous studies have only focused on the internal determinants of profitability. Hence, this research aims to analyze both the internal and external profitability determinants of the BPD Bank in Indonesia. Research Method: This study analyzes 135 observations in total from all 27 BPD banks in Indonesia for five years, from 2011 to 2015. This research measured bank profitability using ROA and ROE as the dependent variables. The independent variables are the internal and external determinants of bank profitability. The internal determinants of profitability consist of TA, TCORCAP, CAR, NPL, LDR, OE/OI and NIM; whilst the external determinants include TMS, INF and BIRATE. Findings: The findings of this study show that the profitability of the BPD Bank, as measured by its Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE), is significantly determined internally by the total assets, LDR, OE/OI, and NIM and externally by the BIRATE and inflation. Those variables have positive relationships with profitability, except for OE/OI and inflation, which have negative relationships with profitability. In addition, two hypotheses are only partially supported, in which the total core capital and CAR show negative relationships only with ROE. Conclusion: The findings of this paper provide a deeper insight to help manage the profitability of the BPD Bank, which eventually can promote sustainable economic development.

The article uses hand-collected data regarding environmental information disclosure for Chinese 30 listed banks from 2009 to 2019 to investigate the effect of environmental information disclosure on banks’ financial performance. Results show that the improvement in the quality of environmental information disclosure enhances the financial performance of banks, and this effect is intertemporal. In terms of the bank heterogeneity, national banks have a more significant effect of environmental information disclosure on their financial performance compared to regional banks. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the regional green development environment moderates the relationship between environmental information disclosure and banks’ financial performance. The findings of our study add impetus for commercial banks to improve their environmental information disclosure.