Sophisticated Discipline in Nascent Deposit Markets: Evidence from Post-Communist Russia

Using a database from post-communist, pre-deposit-insurance Russia, we demonstrate the presence of quantity-based sanctioning of weaker banks by both firms and households, particularly after the financial crisis of 1998. Evidence for the standard form of price discipline, however, is notably weak. Estimating the deposit supply function, we show that, particularly for poorly capitalized banks, interest rate increases exhibit diminishing, and eventually negative, returns in terms of deposit attraction, a finding consistent with depositors interpreting the deposit rate itself as a signal of otherwise unobserved bank-level risk.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57209/1/wp829 .pd

Sophisticated Discipline in Nascent Deposit Markets: Evidence from Post-Communist Russia

In nascent markets with relatively immature institutions, do depositors have the capacity to discipline banks with poor fundamentals? If so, what information specifically guides their response? Using a database from post-communist, pre-deposit-insurance Russia, we present evidence for quantity-based sanctioning of weaker banks by both firms and households, particularly after the 1998 financial crisis. More notably, the discipline that we observe is surprisingly sophisticated. Specifically, our evidence is consistent with the proposition that depositors interpret a bank’s deposit rate and capital as jointly reflecting its subsequent stability. In estimating a deposit supply function, we show that, particularly for poorly capitalized banks, interest rate increases run into diminishing, and eventually negative, returns in terms of deposit attraction.banking, market discipline

Sophisticated discipline in a nascent deposit market: Evidence from post-communist Russia

Using a database from post-communist, pre-deposit-insurance Russia, we demonstrate the presence of quantity-based sanctioning of weaker banks by both firms and households, particularly after the financial crisis of 1998. Evidence for the standard form of price discipline, however, is notably weak. We estimate the deposit supply function and show that, particularly for poorly capitalized banks, interest rate increases exhibit diminishing, and eventually negative, returns in terms of deposit attraction. These findings are consistent with depositors interpreting the deposit rate itself as a complementary proxy of otherwise unobserved bank-level risk.market discipline; deposit market; transition; Russia

Are private banks more efficient than public banks? Evidence from Russia

We study whether bank efficiency is related to bank ownership in Russia. We find that foreign banks are more efficient than domestic private banks and – surprisingly – that domestic private banks are not more efficient than domestic public banks. These results are not driven by the choice of production process, the bank’s environment, management’s risk preferences, the bank’s activity mix or size, or the econometric approach. The evidence in fact suggests that domestic public banks are more efficient than domestic private banks and that the efficiency gap between these two ownership types did not narrow after the introduction of deposit insurance in 2004. This may be due to increased switching costs or to the moral hazard effects of deposit insurance. The policy conclusion is that the efficiency of the Russian banking system may benefit more from increased levels of competition and greater access of foreign banks than from bank privatization.Bank Efficiency; State Ownership; Foreign ownership; Russia

The role of banks in monetary policy transmission: Empirical evidence from Russia

This paper focuses on the role of the banking sector in monetary policy transmission in an emerging economy with a rapidly developing financial system. Specifically, we exam whether the central bank's monetary policy stance affects banks' lending behaviour. Based on a comprehensive quarterly dataset on all Russian banks from 1Q1999 to 1Q2007, we find evidence for the existence of a bank lending channel in Russia. Contrary to several studies on developed economies, the level of a bank's capitalization matters for the transmission process. Better capitalized banks are less likely to adjust their lending practices following a change in the monetary policy stance.monetary policy transmission; bank lending; Russia

The effect of deposit insurance on market discipline: Evidence from a natural experiment on deposit flows

We explore how the introduction of explicit deposit insurance affects deposit flows into and out of banks of varying risk levels. Using evidence from a natural experiment in Russia, we employ a difference-in-difference estimator to isolate the change in the deposit flows of a newly insured group (households) relative to an uninsured “control” group (firms). This approach improves on earlier studies seeking to identify the effect of deposit insurance on market discipline. We find that the relative sensitivity of households to bank capitalization diminished markedly with the introduction of an insurance program covering their deposits. This was not true for firms, however. We then show the finding is not an artifact of the two groups responding differently to a minor banking crisis that arose at roughly the same time.deposit insurance; market discipline

Sophisticated Discipline in Nascent Deposit Markets: Evidence from Post-Communist Russia

Using a database from post-communist, pre-deposit-insurance Russia, we demonstrate the presence of quantity-based sanctioning of weaker banks by both firms and households, particularly after the financial crisis of 1998. Evidence for the standard form of price discipline, however, is notably weak. Estimating the deposit supply function, we show that, particularly for poorly capitalized banks, interest rate increases exhibit diminishing, and eventually negative, returns in terms of deposit attraction, a finding consistent with depositors interpreting the deposit rate itself as a signal of otherwise unobserved bank-level risk.banking, market discipline, deposit market, transition, Russia

Are private banks more efficient than public banks ? Evidence from Russia

We study whether bank ownership is related to bank efficiency in Russia. We find that foreign banks are more efficient than domestic private banks and – surprisingly – that domestic private banks are not more efficient than domestic public banks. These results are not driven by the choice of the production process, the bank’s environment, the management’s risk preferences, the bank’s activity mix, size or the econometric approach. The evidence in fact suggests that domestic public banks are more efficient than domestic private banks and that the efficiency gap between these two types of banks is not lower after the introduction of deposit insurance in 2004. This may be due to increased switching costs or to the moral hazard effects of deposit insurance. The policy conclusion is that the efficiency of the Russian banking system may benefit more from increased levels of competition and higher access of foreign banks than from bank privatization.Bank Efficiency; State Ownership; Foreign ownership; Russia.

The Politics of Bank Failures in Russia

We study whether bank failure probability systematically varies over the election cycle in Russia. Using monthly data for 2002-2020 and controlling for standard bank risk indicators we find that bank failure is less likely during periods preceding presidential elections. We explore whether this effect is more pronounced for banks whose failure is associated with greater political costs, such as important players in the household deposit market or important players in regional markets. We find no evidence for this latter effect. Overall, our results provide mixed evidence that political cycles matter for the occurrence of bank failures in Russia