Bank performance and stability

This thesis presents a collection of essays into bank performance and stability. The introduction provides an overview of the topic as well as the broader context behind the subsequent chapters. The first chapter focuses on empirical investigation into factors determining performance of investments of a multinational development bank. I construct a unique database of almost 1,600 EBRD investments. It is a first study of all EBRD investments which complements the literature on the project performance of MDBs. My findings suggest that the probability of project success is higher with larger investments and projects under framework. Also, projects with state clients are less likely to be successful. I address the selection bias and this further contributes to the related literature. The second chapter is a cross-bank, cross-country and cross-time empirical study of bank performance in the context of government interventions into failing banks during financial crises. I use a novel database consisting of banks which received government intervention and their non-intervened peers in 39 countries between 1990 and 2017. The findings contribute to the latest empirical literature which is far from conclusive by identifying no clear winner among the studied interventions with gains as well as potential losses under each intervention. I argue that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ intervention approach is suboptimal. The final chapter of my thesis looks at the bank performance analysis in the context of financial stability. I apply the model of financial stability by Goodhart et al. (2004, 2005) to illustrate the impact of government interventions on banks’ behaviour using data for UK banks. The model has been widely used by central bankers and regulators to illustrate the trade-offs between bank’s performance and financial stability. This is its first application in the context of government interventions. The final chapter concludes my thesis.