Effect of the legal system country of European commercial banks on the financial distress

  • Authors

    • Nizar Baklouti Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Management of Sfax (FSEGS), Tunisia
    • Frédéric Gautier
    • François Aubert
    2017-02-28
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijaes.v5i1.6558
  • Corporate Governance, Financial Distress, Bank, Board, Investor Protection.
  • Abstract

    This study examines the effect of the legal system on the governance of banks and hence on financial distress. We compare corporate governance to the legal system in 18 countries of the European Union to explain the relationship between financial distress and bank governance. Using a sample of 147 commercial banks, we find that the effect of the legal system really counts. The results also suggest that banks operating in common law and civil law countries tend the concentration of ownership and board size to the effect of increasing the likelihood of financial distress. This study contributes to research in the governance of enterprise to provide empirical evidence that the legal system has the power to influence the financial health of banks.

  • References

    1. [1] Aguilera, R. V., & Jackson, G. (2003). The cross-national diversity of corporate governance: Dimensions and determinants. Academy of Management Review, 28, 447–465.

      [2] Balsam, S., &Upadhyay, A. (2009). Impact of board leadership on firm performance: does it matter who heads the board? , Working Paper.

      [3] Beltratti, A., &Stulz, R. (2010). Why did some banks perform better during the credit crisis? A cross-country study of the impact of governance and regulation. Unpublished working paper, Ohio State University.

      [4] Bertrand, M., Mehta, P., & Mullainathan S. (2002). Ferreting out tunneling: an application to Indian business groups. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117, 121-148. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355302753399463.

      [5] Bhagat, S., & Bolton, B. (2008). Corporate governance and firm performance, Journal of Corporate Finance, 14 (3), 257–273.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2008.03.006.

      [6] Bourke, P. (1989). Concentration and other determinants of bank profitability in Europe, North America and Australia. Journal of Banking and Finance, 13, 65–79.https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-4266(89)90020-4.

      [7] Boyd, B. (1995). CEO Duality and Firm Performance: A Contingency Model. Strategic Management Journal, 16 (4), 301–312.https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250160404.

      [8] Boyd, J. H., &Gertler, M. (1994). The role of large banks in the recent US banking crisis, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review, winter, 2–21.

      [9] Boyd, J. H., &Runkle, D. E. (1993). Size and Performance of Banking Firms: Testing the Predictions of Theory, Journal of Monetary Economics, 31(1), 47–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(93)90016-9.

      [10] Caprio, G., Laeven, L., & Levine, R. (2007). Ownership and bank valuation. Journal of Financial Intermediation, 16, 584–617.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfi.2006.10.003.

      [11] Changanti, R. S., Mahajan, V., & Sharma, S. (1985). Corporate board size, composition and corporate failures in the retailing industry. Journal of Management Studies, 22, 400- 417.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.1985.tb00005.x.

      [12] Claessens, S., Djankov, S., &Klapper, L. (2003). Resolution of corporate distress in East Asia. Journal of Empirical Finance, 10, 199–216.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-5398(02)00023-3.

      [13] Daily, C.M., & Dalton, D. (1994b). Corporate governance and the bankrupt firm: An empirical assessment. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 643–654.https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250150806.

      [14] Demirgüc-Kunt, A., &Detragiache, E. (1998a). The determinants of banking crises in developing and developed countries. International Monetary Fund Staff Paper 45 (1), 81–109.https://doi.org/10.2307/3867330.

      [15] Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Harry, H. (1999). Determinants of commercial bank interest margins and profitability: some international evidence, The World Bank Economic Review, 13(2), 379–408.https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/13.2.379.

      [16] Djankov, S., Hart, O. D., McLiesh, C., & Shleifer, A. (2008a). Debt enforcement around the world. Journal of Political Economy, 116, 1105–1149.https://doi.org/10.1086/595015.

      [17] Djankov, S., McLiesh, C., & Shleifer, A. (2007). Private credit in 129 countries. Journal of Financial Economics, 84, 299–329.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2006.03.004.

      [18] Durnev, A., & Kim, E. H. (2005). To steal or not to steal: firm attributes, legal environment, and valuation. Journal of Finance, 3, 1461–1493.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.2005.00767.x.

      [19] Engelen, P. J., & Van Essen, M. (2010). Underpricing of IPOs: Firm-, issue- and country-specific characteristics. Journal of Banking and Finance, 34, 1958–1969.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2010.01.002.

      [20] Friedman, E., Johnson, S., & Milton, T. (2003). Propping and tunneling. Journal of Comparative Economic, 31 (4), 732-750.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2003.08.004.

      [21] Gropp, R., Hakenes, H., & Schnabel, I. (2011). Competition, risk-shifting, and public bail-out policies. Review of Financial Studies, 24, 2084-120.https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhq114.

      [22] Johnson, S., Boone, P., Breach, A., & Friedman, E. (2000). Corporate governance in the Asian financial crisis, 1997–1998. Journal of Financial Economics, 58, 141–186.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(00)00069-6.

      [23] Kira, D.S., Doreen, D., & Nguyen, D. (1997). An Application of Artificial Neutral Networks and Statistical Methods in Qualitative Evaluation of Small Business Loans, Applied Stochastic Models and Data Analysis.

      [24] Kosmidou, K. (2008). The Determinants of Banks Profits in Greece during the Period of EU Financial Integration, Managerial Finance, 34, 146-159.https://doi.org/10.1108/03074350810848036.

      [25] Kosmidou, K., Tanna, S., & Pasiouras, F. (2005). Determinants of Profitability of Domestic UK Commercial Banks: Panel Evidence from the Period 1995-2002, Money Macro and Finance (MMF) Research Group Conference.

      [26] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (1999). Corporate Ownership around the World, Journal of Finance, 54, 471-517.https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-1082.00115.

      [27] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A, & Vishny, R.W. (1998). Law and finance, Journal of Political Economy, 106 (6), 1113-1155.https://doi.org/10.1086/250042.

      [28] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. (1997). Legal determinants of external finance, Journal of Finance, 52, 1131–1150.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1997.tb02727.x.

      [29] La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. (2002). Investor protection and corporate valuation, Journal of Finance, 1147–1170.https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6261.00457.

      [30] Laeven, L., &Majnoni, G. (2005). Does judicial efficiency lower the cost of credit? Journal of Banking & Finance, 29, 1791–1812.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2004.06.036.

      [31] Laeven, L., & Levine, R. (2009). Bank Governance, Regulation and Risk Taking, Journal of Financial Economics, 93(2), 259–75.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2008.09.003.

      [32] Lennox, C. (1999). Identifying Failing Companies: A Re-evaluation of the Logit, Probit, and DA Approaches, Journal of Economics and Business 51(4), 347–64.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-6195(99)00009-0.

      [33] Mitton, T. (2002). A cross-firm analysis of the impact of corporate governance on the East Asian financial crisis, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 64 No. 2, pp. 215-41.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-405X(02)00076-4.

      [34] Myers, S. (1977). Determinants of corporate borrowing. Journal of Financial Economics, 5, 147- 175.https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(77)90015-0.

      [35] Pi, L., &Timme, S.G. (1993). Corporate Control and Bank Efficiency, Journal of Banking and Finance, 17, 515–30.https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-4266(93)90050-N.

      [36] Rajan, R., & Luigi, Z. (2003). Banks and markets: the changing character of European finance in Vítor Gaspar, Philipp Hartmann, Olaf Sleijpen (eds), The transformation of the European financial system, Frankfurt: European Central Bank, 123–167.

      [37] Rechner, P. L., & Dalton, D. R. (1991). CEO duality and organizational performance: A longitu- dinal analysis. Strategic Management Journal, 12,155-160.https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250120206.

      [38] Ruiz-Mallorquí, M. V., & Santana-Aguiar, D. J. (2009). Ultimate institutional owner and takeover defenses in the controlling versus minority shareholders context. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 17(2), 238-254.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8683.2009.00735.x.

      [39] Stevens, J. (1996). Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences, 3rd edn. Hillsdale, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum.

      [40] Weisbach, M. (1988). Outside directors and CEO turnover. Journal of Financial Economics, 20, 413–460.https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(88)90053-0.

      [41] Young, M., Peng, M.W., Ahlstrom, D., Bruton, G., & Jiang, Y. (2008). Corporate governance in emerging economies: A review of the principal-principal perspective. Journal of Management Studies, 45, 196–220.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00752.x.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Baklouti, N., Gautier, F., & Aubert, F. (2017). Effect of the legal system country of European commercial banks on the financial distress. International Journal of Accounting and Economics Studies, 5(1), 40-45. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijaes.v5i1.6558

    Received date: 2016-08-02

    Accepted date: 2016-08-29

    Published date: 2017-02-28