| dc.description.abstract | In this thesis I investigate both the operating performance and risk-taking behavior of financial institutions, under continuous low interest rate environment since the outbreak of the global financial crisis starting 2008. Relevant data are drawn from financial statements of 31 domestic banks in Taiwan, while controlling the changes of important macroeconomic variables during that time. I also highlight how public-held and privately-owned banks react to the low interest rate environment differently. The main empirical results are as follows: Firstly, in terms of operating performance, low interest rates have significantly worsen operating performance for banks such as on their return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and the net income (NI). However, even though the low interest rate compresses banks’ net interest margin (NIM), their performance has not deteriorated to the degree of reduction on interest rates, as they rely on higher non-interest income, which are more pronounced for privately-owned banks.
Secondly, in terms of the risk-taking behavior of banks, the lower the interest rate, the lower the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio and the higher the capital adequacy ratio (CAR), which indicates that in general, low interest rate did not cause Taiwanese banks to take higher risk during the sample period. In addition, empirical results of this thesis also show that the NPL ratio of public-owned banks has increased during low interest rates period, which raises the concern that those banks may take on higher risks under low-interest circumstances. However, this may because in practice, low interest rates results in lower NIM, and thus public-held banks fail to dispel bad debts with their interest income. As the CAR of public-held banks has increased during the study period, it implies that public-held banks have not taken higher risks due to low interest rates. | en_US |