Borrowing and socio-economic characteristics of households: results of sample surveys carried out by the Bank of Greece

This paper uses data from two household surveys conducted by the Bank of Greece in 2002 and 2005 and examines how various socio-economic characteristics of households, such as size, income and wealth, the age, education level and tenure of employment of the head, the number of members in employment and the degree of urbanisation of the place of residence are related to the probability of having a loan, the level of indebtedness, the distribution of the debt service cost to income ratio and also the non-servicing of loans. Most of the characteristics examined were found to be associated with the household’s probability of having a loan. The level of indebtedness was found to be positively correlated with household income and wealth and also associated with the age of the household head. Finally, certain household characteristics were also found to affect capacity to service debt obligations properly.household survey, household debt

The determinants of Greek household indebtedness and financial stress

The paper uses data from the household survey conducted by the Bank of Greece in 2007 and investigates how various socioeconomic characteristics of households, such as income and wealth, household size, the age, education level and tenure of employment of the household head, are related with the probability of having a loan, the distribution of the financial stress as is measured by the debt service cost to income ratio, and also with the proper or not servicing of their loans. Most of the characteristics examined were found to be associated with the household’s probability of having a loan. Financial stress tends to decline as household income and net wealth increase, while certain household characteristics were also found to affect households’ capacity to service properly their debt obligations.household indebtedness; debt service

Cost Efficiency in Greek Banking

TThis study uses the distribution free approach to investigate cost efficiency in a panel of Greek banks over 1993-1999, a period characterized by major changes in the banking sector brought about by gradual financial deregulation. These reforms were supposed to provide an opportunity to Greek banks to improve their efficiency and to enhance their competitiveness in view of ongoing financial integration in Europe and the introduction of the euro. The results obtained indicate that important cost X-inefficiencies are in place. Some evidence is provided that bank characteristics such as bank size, type of ownership and risk behaviour do play a role in explaining differences in measured inefficiencies. Scale economies are also examined and the findings indicate that the Greek banking industry experiences economies of scale, though they have declined throughout the observed period. This suggests that competitive viability may be an important factor for further consolidation in the Greek banking industry.X-efficiency, scale economies, panel data

Is there a bank lending channel of monetary policy in Greece? Evidence from bank level data

This paper analyses empirically the role of bank lending in monetary policy transmission on the basis of Greek bank level data. Two approaches have been taken. One employing a reduced form equation linking monetary policy and distributional variables to bank loans in the spirit of Kashyap and Stein's work. The other, which in general yields more satisfactory results, brings together some of the features of the Bernanke-Blinder model with a method for assessing the impact of differential balance-sheet characteristics on banks' ability to supply loans and investigates directly the behaviour of bank loan supply. A loan supply function was estimated with the use of the bank data, and bank-specific characteristics were found to systematically shift this functio