Foreign Banks in Poor Countries: Theory and Evidence

Enrica Detragiache (), Poonam Gupta and Thierry Tressel

No 2006/018, IMF Working Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: We study how foreign bank penetration affects financial sector development in poor countries. A theoretical model shows that when foreign banks are better at monitoring highend customers than domestic banks, their entry benefits those customers but may hurt other customers and worsen welfare. The model also predicts that credit to the private sector should be lower in countries with more foreign bank penetration. In the empirical section, we show that, in poor countries, a stronger foreign bank presence is robustly associated with less credit to the private sector both in cross-sectional and panel tests. In addition, in countries with more foreign bank penetration, credit growth is slower and there is less access to credit. We find no adverse effects of foreign bank presence in more advanced countries.

Keywords: WP; bank assets; bank presence; foreign bank; bank entry; Financial development; low-income countries; foreign banks; cost efficiency; mismanaged bank privatization; assets in the country; market share; bank assets in bank; bank consolidation; Credit; Bank credit; Commercial banks; Financial sector development; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50
Date: 2006-01-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (66)

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Journal Article: Foreign Banks in Poor Countries: Theory and Evidence (2008)
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