Foreign Bank and Financial Development: Factors Affecting Foreign Bank Effects in CEE Countries

Abstract

This dissertation analyses country-level data for 12 CEE countries from 2000 to 2021 using the Dynamic GMM methodology. The aim of this article is to investigate the effect of foreign bank entry on four dimensions of financial development, which are financial stability, efficiency, depth and access. Furthermore, the article will examine the factors affecting foreign bank effect, including the economic and institutional level of domestic banks and the extent and stage of foreign bank entry. The result shows that foreign bank penetration has a positive influence on financial stability and efficiency, while it has a negative effect on financial depth and access. In general, a high level of economic development and a stringent and well-developed institutional environment is favourable for foreign banks to exhibit a positive influence on financial development. And the bad influence of foreign banks on financial depth and access is diminishing over time. Results regarding the relative importance of foreign banks indicate a mixed conclusion. Overall, this dissertation supplements empirical evidence on the link between foreign banks and financial development in CEE regions and could provide more insights to policymakers