Are Cooperative Banks a Lever for Promoting Bank Stability? Evidence from the Recent Financial Crisis in OECD Countries

摘要

Based on a sample of cooperative, savings, and commercial banks from OECD countries, this paper examines whether and to what extent cooperative banks affected average bank soundness during 2001-2010. To account for the impact of the recent financial crisis, we analyse separately the pre-crisis period (2001-2006) and crisis years (2007-2010). Unlike published claims that blame the fragility of banking systems on the presence of non-profit-maximising entities, our main finding is that cooperative banks have explanatory power for stabilisation during the crisis years, but only above a certain market share threshold.