Original scientific paper
How Much is the Choice of Capital Structure Important for Bank Profi tability in Croatia?
Kundid Ana
; Faculty of Economics, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
Whether the capital structure design may be a source of a comparative advantage in the
business of banking has been rarely empirically answered due to researchers’ focus on the
complications related to the bank capital regulation in the last two decades. In the paper, the
capital structure and profi tability nexus is being explored using the data from the Croatian
banking sector in the period from 2003 to 2008. A panel data analysis was employed for
the 28 commercial banks. The main assumption that heterogeneity in the capital structure
of banks in the Republic of Croatia explains differences in their profi tability is confi rmed.
It has been found that banks with a higher equity fi nancing and insured deposits have a
higher return on assets. At the same time a higher level of the capital adequacy implies a
lower profi tability. Some inconsistencies of the research results and theoretical framework
could be explained by introduction of the marginal obligatory reserve. At last, a necessity
of managing the funding structure with a purpose of improving the bank profi tability is
pointed out.
Keywords
Capital structure; commercial banks; profi tability; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
98284
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2012.
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