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Discretionary provisioning practices among Western European banks

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  • Peterson K. Ozili

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of the study is to investigate whether discretionary ‘loan loss provisioning’ by Western European banks is driven by income smoothing or credit risk considerations. Design/methodology/approach - To test the income smoothing hypothesis, the study uses ordinary least square regression to examine the relation between loan loss provisions and earnings before tax and loan loss provisions in the post-financial crisis period. Findings - The authors find evidence that discretionary provisioning by Western European banks is driven by income smoothing incentives in the post-financial crisis period, particularly, among listed banks. Also, it is observed that discretionary provisioning is significantly influenced by credit risk factors, mainly, non-performing loans and loan growth. Also, it is found that discretionary provisioning by Western European banks is procyclical with fluctuations in the economic cycle. Overall, the implication of the findings is that discretionary provisioning among Western European banks is driven by both income smoothing and credit risk considerations. Originality/value - This study focus on banks in Western Europe in contrast to prior European studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Peterson K. Ozili, 2017. "Discretionary provisioning practices among Western European banks," Journal of Financial Economic Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(1), pages 109-118, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:jfeppp:jfep-07-2016-0049
    DOI: 10.1108/JFEP-07-2016-0049
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peterson K. Ozili, 2017. "Bank earnings smoothing, audit quality and procyclicality in Africa," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(2), pages 142-161, May.
    2. Asokan Anandarajan & Iftekhar Hasan & Cornelia McCarthy, 2007. "Use of loan loss provisions for capital, earnings management and signalling by Australian banks," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 47(3), pages 357-379, September.
    3. Domenico Curcio & Iftekhar Hasan, 2015. "Earnings and capital management and signaling: the use of loan-loss provisions by European banks," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 26-50, January.
    4. Paul Evans & Iftekhar Hasan & Ana Lozano-Vivas, 2008. "Deregulation and Convergence of Banking: The EU Experience," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 104-117, Autumn.
    5. Dorota Skała, 2015. "Saving on a Rainy Day? Income Smoothing and Procyclicality of Loan-Loss Provisions in Central European Banks," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 25-46, March.
    6. Ahmed, Anwer S. & Takeda, Carolyn & Thomas, Shawn, 1999. "Bank loan loss provisions: a reexamination of capital management, earnings management and signaling effects," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-25, November.
    7. Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Lobo, Gerald J & Mathieu, Robert, 2003. "Managerial Incentives for Income Smoothing through Bank Loan Loss Provisions," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 63-80, January.
    8. El Sood, Heba Abou, 2012. "Loan loss provisioning and income smoothing in US banks pre and post the financial crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 64-72.
    9. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Gerald J. Lobo & Dong†Hoon Yang, 2004. "Joint Tests of Signaling and Income Smoothing through Bank Loan Loss Provisions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(4), pages 843-884, December.
    10. Lobo, Gerald J & Yang, Dong-Hoon, 2001. "Bank Managers' Heterogeneous Decisions on Discretionary Loan Loss Provisions," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 223-250, May.
    11. Małgorzata Olszak & Mateusz Pipień & Iwona Kowalska & Sylwia Roszkowska, 2017. "What Drives Heterogeneity of Cyclicality of Loan-Loss Provisions in the EU?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 55-96, February.
    12. Balboa, Marina & López-Espinosa, Germán & Rubia, Antonio, 2013. "Nonlinear dynamics in discretionary accruals: An analysis of bank loan-loss provisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5186-5207.
    13. Fonseca, Ana Rosa & González, Francisco, 2008. "Cross-country determinants of bank income smoothing by managing loan-loss provisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 217-228, February.
    14. Bikker, J.A. & Metzemakers, P.A.J., 2005. "Bank provisioning behaviour and procyclicality," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 141-157, April.
    15. Stergios Leventis & Panagiotis Dimitropoulos & Asokan Anandarajan, 2011. "Loan Loss Provisions, Earnings Management and Capital Management under IFRS: The Case of EU Commercial Banks," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 40(1), pages 103-122, October.
    16. Beaver, William H. & Engel, Ellen E., 1996. "Discretionary behavior with respect to allowances for loan losses and the behavior of security prices," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1-3), pages 177-206, October.
    17. John Bonin & Marko Kosak, 2013. "Loan/Loss Provisioning in Emerging Europe: Precautionary or Pro-Cyclical?," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2013-010, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    18. Ozili, Peterson K, 2017. "Bank Earnings Smoothing, Audit Quality and Procyclicality in Africa: The Case of Loan Loss Provisions," MPRA Paper 92646, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ozili, Peterson K., 2019. "Bank income smoothing, institutions and corruption," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 82-99.
    2. Peterson K. Ozili & Erick Rading Outa, 2018. "Bank income smoothing in South Africa: role of ownership, IFRS and economic fluctuation," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(5), pages 1372-1394, November.
    3. Ozili, Peterson K & Outa, Erick R, 2018. "Bank Earnings Smoothing During Mandatory IFRS adoption in Nigeria," MPRA Paper 89690, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Konstantinos Vasilakopoulos & Christos Tzovas & Apostolos Ballas, 2021. "Banks’ Risk and The Impact of Audit Quality on Income Smoothing," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 425-453, September.
    5. Peterson K. Ozili, 2022. "Determinants of bank income smoothing using loan loss provisions in the United Kingdom," Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 641-657, February.
    6. Wahyoe Soedarmono & Iman Gunadi & Sudiro Pambudi & Ade Dwi Aryani, 2022. "Bank Loan Loss Provisioning And Procyclicality Revisited: Evidence From Indonesia," Working Papers WP/02/2022, Bank Indonesia.
    7. Peterson K. Ozili, 2018. "Bank loan loss provisions, investor protection and the macroeconomy," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 45-65, January.
    8. Ogundipe, S. Adeyemi & Fasola I. Kayode & Falana B. Ranti, 2023. "Regulatory Intervention Effectiveness and Performance of Financial Institutions in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(12), pages 1205-1216, December.
    9. Peterson K. Ozili, 2017. "Earnings management in interconnected networks: a perspective," Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(2), pages 150-163, November.
    10. Peterson K. Ozili & Erick Outa, 2017. "Bank loan loss provisions research: A review," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 17(3), pages 144-163, September.
    11. Ozili, Peterson Kitakogelu, 2021. "Bank earnings management using loan loss provisions: comparing the UK, France, South Africa and Egypt," MPRA Paper 108506, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Albulena Shala & Valentin Toçi & Skender Ahmeti, 2020. "Income smoothing through loan loss provisions in south and Eastern European banks," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 38(2), pages 429-452.
    13. Pandey, Ashish & Guhathakurta, Kousik, 2022. "Value relevance of loan loss provision components and the choice of model specification," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    14. Ozili, Peterson Kitakogelu, 2021. "Big 4 auditors, bank earnings management and financial crisis in Africa," MPRA Paper 108608, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Ozili, Peterson K, 2017. "Bank Loan Loss Provisions, Investor Protection and the Macroeconomy," MPRA Paper 80147, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Deepa Mangala & Neha Singla, 2021. "Quality of Reported Earnings: An Empirical Study of Indian Banking Industry," Vision, , vol. 25(2), pages 159-167, June.
    17. Ozili, Peterson K, 2017. "Bank Earnings Smoothing, Audit Quality and Procyclicality in Africa: The Case of Loan Loss Provisions," MPRA Paper 92646, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial institutions and services; Financial markets and institutions; Income smoothing; Accounting and auditing; Managerial discretion; Bank regulation; C21; C23; G21; M41;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E66 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General Outlook and Conditions
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing

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