Impact of Institutional Environment on Banks’ Non-Performing Loans: Evidence from BRICS Countries

Abstract

The drivers of non-performing loans (NPL) and the possible effects of the institutional and business environments on the credit risk exposure of banks in the panel of BRICS countries and segregated models are analyzed in this paper. The purpose of the study is to identify the relationship between banking, macroeconomic and institutional factors of non-performing loans of banks at the BRICS level for the period 1996–2020. The panel ARDL approach is used for this purpose. The Panel Granger causality test is applied to verify the hypothesis of the relationship between economic development and NPLs. Panel co-integration tests examine the existence of a long-term link between the same two variables. The results of the study demonstrated that a decrease in the proportion of NPLs results from boosting performance metrics like the Z-score. Because the banking industry has more resources as a result of higher financial development and/or financial intermediation, the amount of NPLs is reduced. Finally, our study demonstrates how important the institutional environment is for raising the quality of bank credit. It was concluded that the low level of NPLs in BRICS countries was largely linked to more effective anti-corruption management, robust regulatory standards, increased application of the rule of law, freedom of speech and accountability.