The importance of the question about the relationship between concentration and efficiency lies in the fact that banks’ efficiency affects ability to extend loans and ensure financial stability of the banking sector. The study examines this relationship on the example of 150 banks operating between 2005 and 2019 in 11 EU and 8 non-EU countries from the SECE region. The value of profit efficiency was assessed with the stochastic frontier approach, and next regressed with the banking market concentration and bank specific and macroeconomic explanatory variables. The results for the entire sample as well as for domestic and foreign-owned banks indicate that concentration positively and nonlinearly impacts bank efficiency, both in EU and non-EU countries. Moreover, the size of a bank and income diversification help to improve efficiency of banks in the SECE region. The study shows that banks in SECE countries seem to follow the efficient structure hypothesis.

Research background: The contribution of banks? non-interest income to the total income becomes particularly important in the face of a severe financial crisis, usually accompanied by burdensome restrictions in economic activity, insolvencies of enterprises and households and low interest rates of central banks. Purpose of the article: This study investigates banks in 40 European countries to determine whether non-interest income had a significant impact on the bank?s profitability and whether the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic influences the form of this relationship. Methods: This study used a linear cross-section model using bank-level data. In the model, the bank?s profitability was regressed with the measure of income diversification, controlling for the pandemic?s intensity and the state of the country?s economy and bank characteristics. Banking data were obtained from the S&P Global MI. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (Hale et al., 2021, pp. 529?538) was the source of pandemic-related variables. Findings & value added: The obtained results indicate that the increases in non-interest income share in the bank?s total income have a statistically significant positive impact on profitability for the European banking sector. The dependence of profitability on diversification was stronger with the growing adverse effects of the pandemic. Our results are in line with those for the US banks (Li et al., 2021) and the European Central Bank Banking Supervision?s assessment that higher non-interest income has allowed banks? profitability in the euro area to be maintained at a pre-pandemic level (ECB, 2021). In addition, the study contributes to previous literature by testing the impact of the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between income diversification and bank profitability in 40 European countries.

No abstract

No abstract

In this article, we present the impact of the monetary policy stance of the European Central Bank (ECB) since 2007 on bank lending in the euro area and compare the effects of the main measures: interest rate changes, liquidity provision, and asset purchase programmes. We also analyse the channels through which monetary policy might influence the banking system and narrow our focus to the individual countries. The main results indicate stimulating impact of ECB's policy stance on bank lending that extends its influence mainly through interest rate cuts further supported by the liquidity provision and asset purchase programmes. However, we also find considerable differences across the member states, often depending on the state of the banking system and loan demand in the member state. The results support the variety of monetary policy measures introduced by the ECB, as each played its own role in supporting the banking system and encouraging bank lending in the euro area.