Bank lending behavior in emerging markets

Abstract

This article sheds further light on the bank lending behavior of Vietnam, an important emerging market. Motivated by the fact that most of emerging economies tend to finance economic growth by bank lending, we analyze the determinants of bank lending using a sample of Vietnamese banks. Employing a number of econometric estimation approaches for robust result, we find that bank lending behavior is significantly depending on bank specific characteristics and macroeconomic factors. We do not find a significant impact of bank market structure on bank lending. The current paper has strong implications in the context of Vietnam where the problem of high non-performing loans has taken heavy toll on the economy.