What Drives Non-Performing Loans? Evidence from Emerging and Advanced Economies During Pre- and Post-Global Financial Crisis

Abstract

We examine the determinants of non-performing loans (NPLs) in emerging countries compared to advanced countries during pre- and post-global financial crisis using dynamic panel estimation techniques. We analyze the effects of banking sector-specific factors and macroeconomic factors on NPLs utilizing a panel data set of emerging and advanced countries. Our results suggest that real GDP growth is the main determinant that affects the NPL ratio, and NPLs exhibit high persistence in emerging and advanced economies both for the pre- and post-crisis periods. We find that exchange rate and foreign direct investments (FDI) become statistically significant for emerging countries after the crisis period.