IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v92y2023icp291-319.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Executive and non-executive employee ownership and bank risk: Evidence from European banks

Author

Listed:
  • Lepetit, Laetitia
  • Tran, Phan Huy Hieu
  • Tran, Thu Ha

Abstract

Our study investigates how executive and non-executive employee ownership affects the risk-taking behavior of European banks, which has become an important issue for regulators as supportive policies promoting employee ownership are implemented. The extant literature on banking firms provides mixed results, focusing exclusively on executive ownership. We investigate channels that could shed light on the inconsistent of these findings. Using data from 2005 to 2019, we find that both executive and non-executive ownership are associated with lower bank risk, depending on employee ability and incentives to take risks. We address endogeneity issues related to banking risk and employee ownership by considering employees' long-term orientation. Our results indicate that policymakers should encourage broad-based employee ownership plans in the banking industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Lepetit, Laetitia & Tran, Phan Huy Hieu & Tran, Thu Ha, 2023. "Executive and non-executive employee ownership and bank risk: Evidence from European banks," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 291-319.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:92:y:2023:i:c:p:291-319
    DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2023.10.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976923001205
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.qref.2023.10.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simpson, W. Gary & Gleason, Anne E., 1999. "Board structure, ownership, and financial distress in banking firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 281-292, September.
    2. Laetitia Lepetit & Celine Meslier & Leo Indra Wardhana, 2017. "Reducing agency conflicts through bank dividend payout decisions: the role of opacity and ownership structure," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(49), pages 4999-5026, October.
    3. Pathan, Shams, 2009. "Strong boards, CEO power and bank risk-taking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1340-1350, July.
    4. Emmanuel Farhi & Jean Tirole, 2012. "Collective Moral Hazard, Maturity Mismatch, and Systemic Bailouts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 60-93, February.
    5. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    6. Knopf, John D. & Teall, John L., 1996. "Risk-taking behavior in the U.S. thrift industry: Ownership structure and regulatory changes," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 1329-1350, September.
    7. DeFusco, Richard A & Johnson, Robert R & Zorn, Thomas S, 1990. "The Effect of Executive Stock Option Plans on Stockholders and Bondholders," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 617-627, June.
    8. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    9. Anderson, Ronald C. & Fraser, Donald R., 2000. "Corporate control, bank risk taking, and the health of the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(8), pages 1383-1398, August.
    10. Jiang, Guohua & Lee, Charles M.C. & Yue, Heng, 2010. "Tunneling through intercorporate loans: The China experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    12. Seok Weon Lee, 2002. "Insider Ownership and Risk-taking Behaviour at Bank Holding Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7&8), pages 989-1005.
    13. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    14. Barry, Thierno Amadou & Lepetit, Laetitia & Tarazi, Amine, 2011. "Ownership structure and risk in publicly held and privately owned banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1327-1340, May.
    15. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002. "Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, June.
    16. Dahya, Jay & Dimitrov, Orlin & McConnell, John J., 2008. "Dominant shareholders, corporate boards, and corporate value: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 73-100, January.
    17. Chang, Xin & Fu, Kangkang & Low, Angie & Zhang, Wenrui, 2015. "Non-executive employee stock options and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 168-188.
    18. Armstrong, Christopher & Nicoletti, Allison & Zhou, Frank S., 2022. "Executive stock options and systemic risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 256-276.
    19. Lepetit, Laetitia & Nys, Emmanuelle & Rous, Philippe & Tarazi, Amine, 2008. "Bank income structure and risk: An empirical analysis of European banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1452-1467, August.
    20. Rossi, Stefano & Volpin, Paolo F., 2004. "Cross-country determinants of mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 277-304, November.
    21. Yakov Amihud & Baruch Lev, 1981. "Risk Reduction as a Managerial Motive for Conglomerate Mergers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(2), pages 605-617, Autumn.
    22. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    23. Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Schaeck, Klaus, 2014. "Executive board composition and bank risk taking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    24. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem & Zheng, Changjun & Arshad, Sidra, 2016. "Effects of national culture on bank risk-taking behavior," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 309-326.
    25. Laeven, Luc & Levine, Ross, 2009. "Bank governance, regulation and risk taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 259-275, August.
    26. Li, Kai & Griffin, Dale & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2013. "How does culture influence corporate risk-taking?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-22.
    27. Mourouzidou-Damtsa, Stella & Milidonis, Andreas & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2019. "National culture and bank risk-taking," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 132-143.
    28. James R. Barth & Gerard Caprio & Ross Levine, 2013. "Bank regulation and supervision in 180 countries from 1999 to 2011," Journal of Financial Economic Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(2), pages 111-219, May.
    29. Faleye, Olubunmi & Mehrotra, Vikas & Morck, Randall, 2006. "When Labor Has a Voice in Corporate Governance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 489-510, September.
    30. Ing-Haw Cheng & Harrison Hong & José A. Scheinkman, 2015. "Yesterday's Heroes: Compensation and Risk at Financial Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(2), pages 839-879, April.
    31. Ahern, Kenneth R. & Daminelli, Daniele & Fracassi, Cesare, 2015. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 165-189.
    32. Paroush, Jacob & Schreiber, Ben Z., 2019. "Profitability, capital, and risk in US commercial and savings banks: Re-examination of estimation methods," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 148-162.
    33. Masulis, Ronald W. & Wang, Cong & Xie, Fei, 2020. "Employee-Manager Alliances and Shareholder Returns from Acquisitions," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(2), pages 473-516, March.
    34. do Nascimento Junior, Arnaldo João & Klotzle, Marcelo Cabus & Brandão, Luiz Eduardo T. & Pinto, Antonio Carlos Figueiredo, 2021. "Prospect theory and narrow framing bias: Evidence from emerging markets," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 90-101.
    35. Stulz, René M., 1984. "Optimal Hedging Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 127-140, June.
    36. Bhagat, Sanjai & Bolton, Brian, 2014. "Financial crisis and bank executive incentive compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 313-341.
    37. Lepetit, Laetitia & Strobel, Frank, 2015. "Bank insolvency risk and Z-score measures: A refinement," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 214-224.
    38. Fratianni, Michele & Marchionne, Francesco, 2013. "The banking bailout of the subprime crisis: Was the bang worth the buck?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 240-264.
    39. Yael V. Hochberg & Laura Lindsey, 2010. "Incentives, Targeting, and Firm Performance: An Analysis of Non-executive Stock Options," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(11), pages 4148-4186, November.
    40. Saunders, Anthony & Strock, Elizabeth & Travlos, Nickolaos G, 1990. "Ownership Structure, Deregulation, and Bank Risk Taking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 643-654, June.
    41. Boubakri, Narjess & Mirzaei, Ali & Samet, Anis, 2017. "National culture and bank performance: Evidence from the recent financial crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 36-56.
    42. Ilona Babenko & Rik Sen, 2016. "Do Nonexecutive Employees Have Valuable Information? Evidence from Employee Stock Purchase Plans," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(7), pages 1878-1898, July.
    43. Douglas W. Diamond, 1984. "Financial Intermediation and Delegated Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 393-414.
    44. Kruse, Douglas L. & Freeman, Richard B. & Blasi, Joseph R. (ed.), 2010. "Shared Capitalism at Work," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226056951, June.
    45. Seok Weon Lee, 2002. "Insider Ownership and Risk–taking Behaviour at Bank Holding Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(7‐8), pages 989-1005.
    46. Chen, Carl R. & Steiner, Thomas L. & Whyte, Ann Marie, 2006. "Does stock option-based executive compensation induce risk-taking? An analysis of the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 915-945, March.
    47. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    48. James R. Barth & Gerard Caprio & Ross Levine, 2013. "Bank regulation and supervision in 180 countries from 1999 to 2011," Journal of Financial Economic Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(2), pages 111-219, May.
    49. Zhu, Hui & Zhu, Steven X., 2017. "Corporate innovation and economic freedom: Cross-country comparisons," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 50-65.
    50. Drago, Robert & Garvey, Gerald T, 1998. "Incentives for Helping on the Job: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-25, January.
    51. Molyneux, Philip & Schaeck, Klaus & Zhou, Tim Mi, 2014. "‘Too systemically important to fail’ in banking – Evidence from bank mergers and acquisitions," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(PB), pages 258-282.
    52. Smith, Clifford W. & Stulz, René M., 1985. "The Determinants of Firms' Hedging Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 391-405, December.
    53. Chen, Jun & King, Tao-Hsien Dolly & Wen, Min-Ming, 2020. "Non-executive ownership and private loan pricing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    54. Sreedhar T. Bharath & Tyler Shumway, 2008. "Forecasting Default with the Merton Distance to Default Model," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(3), pages 1339-1369, May.
    55. DeYoung, Robert & Spong, Kenneth & Sullivan, Richard J., 2001. "Who's minding the store? Motivating and monitoring hired managers at small, closely held commercial banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 1209-1243, July.
    56. Minhat, Marizah & Abdullah, Mazni, 2016. "Bankers’ stock options, risk-taking and the financial crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 121-128.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bowo Setiyono & Amine Tarazi, 2014. "Disclosure, ownership structure and bank risk: Evidence from Asia," Working Papers hal-00947590, HAL.
    2. García-Kuhnert, Yamileh & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2015. "Shareholder diversification and bank risk-taking," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 602-635.
    3. Illiashenko, Pavlo & Laidroo, Laivi, 2020. "National culture and bank risk-taking: Contradictory case of individualism," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Thierno Barry & Laetitia Lepetit & Frank Strobel & Thu Tran, 2018. "Better than independent: the role of minority directors on bank boards," Working Papers hal-01937927, HAL.
    5. Chen, Hsiao-Jung & Lin, Kuan-Ting, 2016. "How do banks make the trade-offs among risks? The role of corporate governance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(S), pages 39-69.
    6. Ashraf, Dawood & Ramady, Mohamed & Albinali, Khalid, 2016. "Financial fragility of banks, ownership structure and income diversification: Empirical evidence from the GCC region," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 56-68.
    7. Saghi-Zedek, Nadia & Tarazi, Amine, 2015. "Excess control rights, financial crisis and bank profitability and risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 361-379.
    8. Tran Phan Huy Hieu, 2020. "Effectiveness of policy measures to promote employee share ownership programs in banks," Working Papers hal-02534814, HAL.
    9. Tran, Phan Huy Hieu, 2020. "Effectiveness of policy measures to promote employee share ownership programs in banks," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    10. Ooi, Chai-Aun & Setiawan, Doddy & Hooy, Chee-Wooi, 2021. "Muslim CEOs and bank risk-taking: Evidence from Indonesia," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    11. Barry, Thierno Amadou & Lepetit, Laetitia & Tarazi, Amine, 2011. "Ownership structure and risk in publicly held and privately owned banks," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1327-1340, May.
    12. Morck, Randall & Deniz Yavuz, M. & Yeung, Bernard, 2011. "Banking system control, capital allocation, and economy performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 264-283, May.
    13. Thierno Amadou Barry & Laetitia Lepetit & Frank Strobel & Thu Ha Tran, 2022. "Implications for Bank Risk when Directors are Related to Minority Shareholders," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 233-265, December.
    14. Tristan Auvray & Olivier Brossard, 2012. "Too Dispersed to Monitor? Ownership Dispersion, Monitoring, and the Prediction of Bank Distress," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 685-714, June.
    15. Mohamed Belkhir & Abdelaziz Chazi, 2010. "Compensation Vega, Deregulation, and Risk‐Taking: Lessons from the US Banking Industry," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(9‐10), pages 1218-1247, November.
    16. Tran, Phan Huy Hieu, 2021. "Does employee stock ownership program reduce a company’s stock volatility during the Covid-19 lockdown?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
    17. Ali, Abdelrahman Elzahi Saaid, 2016. "Poverty Alleviation through Microfinance in North-East Kenya Province," Working Papers 2016-9, The Islamic Research and Teaching Institute (IRTI).
    18. Pour, Eilnaz Kashefi & Uddin, Moshfique & Murinde, Victor & Amini, Shima, 2023. "CEO power, bank risk-taking and national culture: International evidence," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    19. Jennifer Kunz & Mathias Heitz, 2021. "Banks’ risk culture and management control systems: A systematic literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 439-493, December.
    20. Bellardini, Luca & Murro, Pierluigi & Previtali, Daniele, 2024. "Measuring the risk appetite of bank-controlling shareholders: The Risk-Weighted Ownership index," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employee ownership; Non-executive ownership; Bank risk;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:92:y:2023:i:c:p:291-319. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620167 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.