philippine rural banks and economic development

26
1

Upload: others

Post on 05-May-2022

5 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

1

Page 2: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

2

Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development1

Céline CROUZILLE a, Jessica LOS BANOS b, Emmanuelle NYS a, Alain SAUVIAT a

a LAPE, Université de Limoges, 5 rue Félix Eboué, BP 3127, 87 031 Limoges Cedex, France b CBA, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines

Abstract:

This paper examines the link between financial and economic development at the regional level in the Philippines and focuses on the role played by rural banks in regional economic activity. We apply cointegration panel data analysis on regional banking and economic data for the period 1993 to 2005. We ranked the sixteen regions in three different groups based on their average economic development. The wealthier the region, the more important the financial depth is. However the Asian crisis prevents us to find a positive long term relationship from the cointegration analysis between finance and growth when studying all regions together. When investigating the less developed regions, our results show some support for a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth. In that case, the findings also bear out a threshold effect of rural bank presence on economic activity encouraging government policy to strengthen rural finance.

JEL Classification: G21, O16

1This paper was prepared for the ASIA-LINK human resource development project: Euro-Philippines Network on Banking and Finance,

Safety and Soundness of the Financial System, coordinated by the University of Limoges (www.upd.edu.ph/~cba/asialink). ASIA-LINK is a programme of the European Commission that seeks to promote regional and multilateral networking among higher education institutions in Europe and developing economies in Asia.

Page 3: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

3

Section 1. Introduction

The link between financial development and economic growth has been the subject of extensive

research in recent years, often anchored on the seminal works of McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973).

McKinnon and Shaw posit that removing restrictions on interest rates increases interest levels and

amplifies the volume of money for lending, eventually leading to greater capital formation and

productivity, and consequently economic growth. Their influential work on financial liberalization laid

the groundwork for the renewed interest in the role of financial intermediation in the economic growth

process, which this present study investigates in the case of the Philippine regions.

Existing literature on the function of financial markets in economic growth include, among others King

and Levine (1993a, 1993b), Bencivenga and Smith (1991), and Beck et al. (2000). A number of

research themes are prominent in the growth literature (see Levine 1997, for a comprehensive review).

Some studies concentrate on exploring the channels through which financial development stimulates

economic growth (see Calderón and Liu 2003) such as capital formation and productivity. Others focus

on the impact of savings and lending on growth (Demetriades and Luintel 1997 and Bandiera et al.

2000). A number examine the resulting resource allocation efficiency (Bencivenga and Smith 1991) of

intermediaries ensuing from financial liberalization. This allocative efficiency is argued to aid in risk

management by savers and investors (Angbazo 1997), to lead to better identification of long-term

investments that are more productive than short-term ventures (Bencivenga and Smith 1991), to

improve investment decisions (Greenwood and Jovanovic 1990), and to facilitate information

collection and evaluation of investment projects (King and Levine 1993b and Boyd and Prescott 1986).

The more contentious area of research investigates the causality of the relationship between growth and

financial intermediation (King and Levine 1994, Demetriades and Hussein 1996, and Wachtel and

Rousseau 1995). The positive link between financial development and output growth is argued to be

complicated by the direction of the relationship (Christopoulos and Tsionas 2004). Some researchers

assert that it is financial development that follows growth (See King and Levine, 1993a,b, and

Demetriades and Hussein 1996) while others find otherwise, that it is growth that fuels financial

development (Christopoulos and Tsionas 2004) since improvements in productivity and economic

output would require increased investment and funding. Other studies claim that this causality is

Page 4: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

4

actually bi-directional (Demetriades and Hussein 1996) while a few do not find any link between

financial development and economic growth at all (Lucas, 1988, Chandavarkar, 1992).

Existing empirical studies mainly focus on the influence of the financial development on economic

growth across countries, and therefore they need to control for institutional, social and political

disparities. In this paper, we only study the case of the Philippines which enables us to assume that

macroeconomic conditions and political governance (monetary and exchange rate policy, banking

regulation, education and health policy, industrial policy…) are relatively homogeneous across the

regions of this country. Therefore we can focus on structural differences in the banking industry among

the regions in order to provide deeper insights into the finance and growth nexus. In the case of the

Philippines, this question is of particular interest. The formal banking system is composed of three

categories of banks: universal and commercial banks (UKB), thrift and private development banks

(TB) and regional rural and cooperatives banks (RB). Although the formal banking system is

dominated by commercial banks, rural banks in the Philippines were primarily established to promote

and expand the rural economy. They generally cater to small borrowers including farmers,

entrepreneurs, market vendors, business owners, wage earners, teachers and cooperatives. From the

1960s to the 1980s, rural banks served as conduits of subsidized loan funds from the government and

international donors and were plagued by high default rates, insolvent lending programs, and high

operating costs to name a few (Agabin and Daly 1996). In response, regulations were passed in the

1990s covering minimum capitalization requirements, limitations and restrictions to single borrowers

and shareholders, and increase in capital adequacy ratio for all banks at 10% of risk-weighted assets.

Interest rate restrictions were also removed and the liberalization of new bank openings and branching

was pursued.

Using regional banking and economic data for the period 1993 to 2005, we test whether the presence of

rural banks positively affects regional economic activity. Our estimation model is designed to address

the heterogeneity of economic development and banking coverage of the regions in the Philippines and

to enable us to efficiently utilize the limited regional data available presently. We apply the model on

three sub-samples of regions in the Philippines (all regions, intermediate developed regions and less

developed regions). Regions are classified as less-economically-developed, intermediate-developed,

and developed using macroeconomic data from the Philippine National Statistics Office, National

Page 5: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

5

Statistical Coordination Board and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. We build on the work of Apergis et

al. (2007) and Christopoulos and Tsionas (2004) for our cointegration panel data analysis which aims

to assess the special role of rural banks on regional economic activity in the Philippines. Our estimation

results find support for a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth in

the Philippines. Our findings bear out a threshold effect of rural banking financial depth for the less

developed regions in the Philippines.

The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 follows the introduction and provides a brief survey on

regional economic development. Section 3 presents the role of rural banks and banking coverage in the

Philippine regions. Section 4 presents the econometric methodology and discusses the results and

Section 5 concludes the paper.

Section 2. Disparities of Regional Economic Development in the Philippines

The Philippines is divided into seventeen (17) geographic regions, with seven regions in Luzon,

including the National Capital Region (NCR), three in the Visayas and seven regions in Mindanao. For

this study however, we refer to only 16 regions, having integrated Region 4-A, Calabarzon and Region

4-B, Mimaropa (Region 4 was divided into two separate jurisdictions only in 2002).

Stages of economic development of the regions in the Philippines are distinct and divergent. The

heterogeneity of their economic performance is obviously due to differences in the impact of political,

economic, social, environmental and other factors affecting economic growth. The per capita real gross

regional domestic product (PC_RGRDP) rankings of the regions have remained relatively constant

over the period covered by this study. Table 1 presents the real per capita gross regional product of the

regions. NCR continues to be the most economically developed and the ARMM, the worst performer

among the regions in the country. Those regions whose economic performance has deteriorated have

period growth rates that are significantly lower than those whose positions have significantly improved

and those who have retained their PC_RGRDP rankings.

Page 6: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

6

Table 1 Per Capita Real Gross Regional Domestic Product

Source: National Statistical Coordination Board . *CARAGA figure corresponds to 1997.

In view of the heterogeneity of the stages of economic development and in line with our estimation

model, we classify the regions into three groups: less-economically developed, intermediate developed

and developed regions.

Based on simple statistical analysis of the above data, we identify the less-economically developed

regions to be the following: Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Bicol in Luzon, the Eastern Visayas region in

the Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and

the CARAGA in Mindanao. These regions are basically agriculture intensive with lower levels of

industrialization. Their regional contribution to the Philippine GDP as of 2005 is below 2.9% whereas

their inhabitants account for 26.4% of the Philippine population. Except for Bicol which has one

economic zone and a single locator, there is no economic zone presence in the regions. The human

1993 1993 Rank 2005

2005 Rank

Period Growth

Developed regions

NCR 24793 1 35742 1 44%

CAR 11561 3 17919 2 55%

Northern Mindanao 9721 6 14829 3 53%

Intermediate developed regions

Davao 10169 5 13892 4 37%

Central Visayas 9464 7 13518 5 43%

South Luzon 12477 2 13447 6 8%

Western Visayas 9405 8 12825 7 36%

Socksargen 9021 9 11477 8 27%

Central Luzon 10688 4 11142 9 4%

Less developed regions

Zamboanga Peninsula 7620 10 10159 10 33%

Ilocos 5388 13 7727 11 43%

Cagayan Valley 5591 12 7649 12 37%

CARAGA* 6293 11 6690 13 6%

Eastern Visayas 5305 14 6678 14 26%

Bicol 5224 15 6632 15 27%

ARMM 3439 16 3433 16 0%

Page 7: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

7

development indices, poverty incidence of families, and education spending for this group are among

the worst in the country.

The developed regions, NCR, CAR and Northern Mindanao are those with a strong service sector

coupled with a vibrant industrial sector. There is also a robust presence of economic zones and a large

number of business establishments in these regions. Their per capita gross regional domestic products

are among the highest in the country. CAR is classified as developed in view of the presence of the

province of Benguet in the region, which is highly developed and which greatly improves the ranking

of the region despite the significantly poorer economic performance of the other provinces in the

region. Central Visayas (with Cebu province) and Davao (with Davao del Sur province) regions,

despite being more highly urbanized than Northern Mindanao and the CAR, were not classified in this

group in view of the lower ranking of their per capita GDRP levels as of 2005.

The intermediate economically-developed regions are comprised of those regions that were not

classified as developed and include Central Luzon and Southern Luzon regions in Luzon, the Western

Visayas and Central Visayas regions in the Visayas, and Davao and Socsargen in Mindanao.

Section 3. Banking system and role of rural banks in the Philippines

The formal financial sector2 is dominated by banks, which as of 2005, are comprised of the universal

and commercial banks (UKBs) which number 40 and with 56% of the total bank offices in the

Philippines, 83 thrift and private development banks (TBs) with 17% of bank office share and 861

regional rural and cooperative banks (RCBs) with the remaining 27% of the total banking offices

operating in the country (BSP 2007). To date, the RCBs remain the major source of agricultural credit

with the bulk of their average net loan portfolio allocated to the agriculture, forestry and fishery (AFF)

sectors.3 The net loan portfolio (NLP) share of the RCBs for the AFF, industry and service sectors over

the period 2000-2005 are provided in Table A1.

2 In this paper, we do not aim to study the semi-formal and informal financial sectors. For a presentation of the financial system in the Philippines, see Dauner Gardiol, Helms and Deshpande (2005). For a detailed study of rural finance, see Llanto (2005). 3 This figure was derived from data on rural bank net loan portfolio for the period 2000-2005 provided by the BSP.

Page 8: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

8

As with regional economic development, banking structure and coverage of the regions is also

heterogeneous, with UKBs accounting for a significant share of the financial intermediation taking

place in the regions. Those regions that are classified as less-economically developed are served by less

than 1/5 of the total banking offices in the country. Of these, almost one-half of the offices are rural

banks. The intermediate developed regions in turn share almost 1/2 of the total bank offices, with the

remaining 1/3 located in the developed regions, and with UKBs accounting for 3/4 of the total regional

offices. With large number of offices, bank density of the RCBs in the less developed regions, while

peaking during the financial crisis period have not returned to 1993 levels except for the CARAGA

region. All banks located in the less developed regions operate with only 2.9% of the total banking

assets, among which 14.14% are held by RCBs. The majority of total banking assets, around 87%, are

located in the most developed regions and the remaining 10% in the intermediate developed regions.

In terms of deposit taking, the same trend can be observed across the three groups with a majority of

deposits being placed in UKBs by depositors in the most developed regions of the country. Savings in

the less developed regions account for less than 1/10 of the total deposits in the regions, implying that

UKBs and TBs are still preferred over RCBs as depositories. Individuals and firms in the more

developed regions are also found to be saving significantly more.

As regards borrowing, UKBs are the preferred banks to obtain financing from. However UKBs have

not yet recovered the level of net loan portfolio they have reached before the Asian crisis. On the other

hand, despite the initial decrease of loans they granted just after 1997, RCBs have been able to increase

in most regions their loan market share, and to exceed the 1997 peak.

Individuals and firms in the less developed regions engaged in significantly fewer economic activities

borrowing less than 3% of the total national loan portfolio as of 2005 consistent with their economic

weight. However, creditors from the less-developed regions increasingly borrow from RCBs with

32.5% of their financing requirements obtained from the RCBs in 2005 even if a significant portion of

the market share for loans still goes to UKBs.

Page 9: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

9

As a consequence the intermediation rate, derived by dividing net loan portfolio by deposit liabilities

has decreased after the 1997 financial crisis in the less developed and the intermediate developed

regions. Moreover financial depth of the regions, measured by the ratio of the net loan portfolio over

gross regional domestic product, has significantly declined in all regions.

Section 4. Empirical framework and estimation results

4.1 Rank-order correlation tests

To begin our investigation on the relationship between economic growth and financial intermediation

in the Philippines regions and on the possible role of rural banks, we initially test for correlation

between selected banking and economic development indicators. The current financial system in the

Philippines is considered to be bank-based because of the dominance of banks in the country as

evidenced by the limited presence of equity markets in the regions, and the fact that only the largest

corporations are listed in the country’s stock exchanges. Hence funding for the majority of businesses

in the country is expected to be sourced primarily from banks and not through financial markets. The

use of bank-based financial proxies is thus appropriate.

Our study over the period 1993 – 20054 relies heavily on data obtained from Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas, the National Statistics Office and the National Statistical Coordination Board. Two measures

of the regional economic structure are used: the per capita real gross regional domestic product

(PC_RGRDP) and the per capita real gross added value in the agricultural and fishery sector

(PC_RAgri). To measure financial depth and local intermediation, four different measures are used: the

share of total net loans over nominal gross regional domestic product (Credit), the share of total

deposits over gross regional domestic product (Deposit), the number of banking offices per capita

(Banking office density) and the total net loans over total deposits (Intermediation). To detect an

additional effect of rural banks, two measures for rural banks presence are computed: the share of net

loans granted by rural banks per region over total net loans granted per region (RB Credit share), and

the share of total resources of rural banks per region over total resources for all banks per region (RB

4 Except for the CARAGA region which was created in 1995.

Page 10: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

10

resources share). We perform these tests for four samples (all regions, economically developed regions,

intermediate developed regions, and less economically developed regions).

Table 2 presents the results of our correlation analysis for the different groups of series for the four

samples of regions in the Philippines using Spearman rank-order tests. The null hypothesis is the

absence of rank-order correlation between two series for a sample of regions.

Table 2. Correlation Analysis: Spearman rank-order with PC_RGRDP as referent variable All regions Developed

regions Intermediate

developed regions Less developed regions

- PC_RAgri 0.083 -0.648*** 0.721 0.705***

Financial depth

- Credit 0.233*** 0.841*** -0.824 0.043

- Deposit 0.244*** 0.884*** 0.247** 0.246**

- Banking office density 0.652*** 0.948*** 0.314*** 0.358***

Local intermediation

- Intermediation 0.181*** 0.485*** -0.397*** 0.110

Rural banks market share

- RB Credit share -0.261*** -0.489*** 0.297*** 0.284***

- RB Resources share -0.380*** -0.653*** 0.080 0.313***

Boldface values denote a presence of a rank-order correlation. (***), (**) and (*) signify rejection of the null hypothesis of absence of rank-order correlation at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels respectively.

Three main results are obtained from the rank order tests. First, for the four different samples, a

positive and significant correlation between economic growth and financial depth at the regional level

is obtained when financial depth is measured by banking office density and deposit. This result is

consistent with the existing empirical literature on the finance growth nexus. The correlation obtained

is stronger for the economically developed regions than for the intermediate and less economically

developed regions. When credit is used as indicators of financial depth, the correlation is also

significant for the economically developed regions but not for the intermediate and less economically

developed regions. Results are the same as the latter for correlation between intermediation and

PC_RGDRP.

Page 11: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

11

Second, when considering the relationship between regional economic growth and the agricultural

share a significant negative correlation is obtained between PC_RGDRP and PC_RAgri for the

economically developed regions whereas the correlation is positive and significant for the less

economically developed regions. In other words, as expected, the agricultural sector is of main

importance to favor the growth of poor regions whereas the growth of the wealthy regions comes from

the industrial and service sectors.

Third, the most interesting result with regard to our issue is related to the role of rural banks on regional

economic activity. A negative and significant correlation is obtained between growth and rural banks

presence (whatever the indicators were used) on the sample “all regions” as well as for the

economically developed regions. And for this last group, the effect is stronger. On the contrary, a

positive and significant correlation is obtained between the variables PC_RGDRP and the market share

of rural banks. For the less economically developed regions, we find that the higher the market share of

rural banks, the higher is the economic growth.

4.2 Panel data tests

The lack of agreement on the role, in terms of existence, the level or the direction of financial

development in the process of economic growth is argued to arise primarily from the estimation

techniques that should be properly applied to the available data set (Apergis et al. 2007). According to

Apergis et al (2007), a problem with cross-sectional estimation is a possible omission to discuss the

integration and cointegration properties of the data, leading to a failure to examine the direction of

causality between financial development and economic growth. In estimating panel data, Apergis et al.

(2007) point out that using instrumental variables and GMM dynamic panel estimators alone to account

for potential biases induced by simultaneity of regressors, omitted variables and unobserved country-

specific effects on the finance-growth nexus may be insufficient and that the integration properties of

the data should still be considered. In order to explore the long-run equilibrium relationship between

finance and growth and to detect an additional positive effect of rural banks, we first conduct panel unit

root tests. We used Im, Pesaran and Shin t-test5. Results are presented in Table 3.

5 The IPS test is based on individual ADF regressions and assumes separate unit roots between the cross-sections units.

Page 12: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

12

Table 3. Im, Pesaran and Shin (IPS) panel unit root tests

Variable in level Variable in first difference IPS IPS

PC_RGDRP 2.77 -3.86***

Financial depth

- Credit 0.25 -2.75***

- Deposit -1.55**

- Banking office density -2.83 -1.52**

Local intermediation

- Intermediation 0.91 -2.67***

Rural banks market share

- RB Credit share 6.37 -2.04***

- RB Resources share 1.93 -2.69*** (***), (**) and (*) signify rejection of the null hypothesis of absence of unit root at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels respectively.

Panel unit root tests support the hypothesis of a unit root for most variables in level. For Deposit, we

reject the null hypothesis at the 5% level with the IPS test and at the 10% level with ADF test. In first

difference, unit root tests show that all variables are stationary.

As a second step, we conduct panel cointegration tests. To test for the presence of a long run

relationship between financial and economic development, we used the methodology proposed by

Pedroni ((1999);(2004)). This procedure is based on Engle-Granger (1987) two-step cointegration tests.

Pedroni proposed eleven statistics that allow for heterogeneous intercepts and trend coefficients across

cross sections. Two alternatives hypothesis are tested: homogeneous alternative (within dimension

tests) and heterogeneous alternative (group statistics tests). Cointegration tests are performed using

alternatively as explanatory variables (i) one of the two I(1) measures for financial depth (Credit or

Banking office density)6 or the local intermediation variable and (ii) one of the two I(1) measures for

rural banks market share (RB Credit share or RB Resources share).

6 The deposit variable is I(0).

Page 13: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

13

We then test the null hypothesis of no cointegration relation for these different groups of variables over

four samples. These samples have been chosen in light of the Spearman rank-order test. We focus our

analysis mainly on the intermediate and less developed regions in order to identify the role played by

rural banks.

Table 4 reports the results of the panel cointegration tests. On the sample “all regions”, we find some

evidence of cointegration relationship between financial and economic development. For three pairs of

explanatory variables, seven of the eleven Pedroni statistics are significant, and for the three other pairs

of explanatory variables, six statistics are significant. We therefore reject the null hypothesis of the

absence of a long term relationship between finance and growth.

When we restrict the sample to the less and intermediate economically developed regions, we obtain

stronger evidence of a cointegration relationship for all pairs of explanatory variables (we can even

reject the null hypothesis in nine cases for one pair (Credit; RB Credit share).

Finally, we perform the panel cointegration tests over the less economically-developed regions sample.

In most cases, the null hypothesis is rejected by four of the eleven Pedroni statistics. However stronger

results are obtained when we add a restriction on the level of rural banks market share (based on the

amount of loans granted).

Page 14: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

14

Table 4. Pedroni panel cointegration tests: Number of significant statistics tests (over 11 statistics) Dependent variable: PC_RGDRP

Rural bank market share

Financial depth/Local intermediation RB Credit share RB Resources share

All regions

(N1 = 204 ; N2 = 16) Credit 7

2 (***); 3 (**); 2(*) 6

1 (***); 4 (**); 1(*) Banking office density 6

5 (***) ; 1 (**) 6

1 (***) ; 2 (**) ; 3(*) Intermediation 7

3 (***) ; 4 (**) 7

3 (***) ; 2 (**) ; 2(*)

Intermediate developed regions

(N1 = 78 ; N2 = 6)

Credit 7 5 (***); 1 (**) 1 (*)

1 1 (*)

Banking office density 6 6 (***)

4 3 (**); 1 (*)

Intermediation 5 3 (***); 1 (**); 1 (*)

3 1 (**); 2 (*)

Less developed regions

(N1 = 87 ; N2 = 7)

Credit 4 4 (**)

4 3 (***) ; 1 (**)

Banking office density 4 3 (***) ; 1 (*)

3 1 (***); 1 (**); 1 (*)

Intermediation 4 3 (***) ; 1 (*)

4 3 (***); 1 (**)

Less developed regions for which RB Credit share > 25%

(N1 = 48 ; N2 = 4)

Credit 9 6 (***) ; 1 (**) ; 2 (*)

7 4 (***) ; 1 (**) ; 2(*)

Banking office density 7 3 (***) ; 3 (**) ; 1 (*)

4 2 (**); 2 (*)

Intermediation 7 6 (***) ; 1 (**)

7 4 (***); 1 (**); 2(*)

The total number of significant calculated statistics is in bold. (***), (**) and (*) signify rejection of the null hypothesis of absence of a long run relationship at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels respectively. N1 and N2 are respectively the number of observations and the number of cross-section units.

Table 5 displays the vector error correction estimates of the cointegration relationships, however only

the long run estimations, and not for all pairs of variables, are shown, consistent with our research issue.

We present the results only for the variable “RB credit share” because signs the coefficients are the

Page 15: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

15

same as for “RB resources share” and their Pedroni statistics are better. Moreover with regard to the

“RB credit share” variable, we do not display results with the “local intermediation” variable because

the quality of the estimations is weak and does not allow a meaningful economic interpretation.

The sample “all regions”, where the weight of the richest regions is obviously predominant, shows a

counter-intuitive result that is a negative impact of financial depth on economic growth. This result

might be explained by a strong decrease in the level of loans granted by commercial banks following

the Asian crisis, whereas the economic activity recovered more rapidly. Indeed the role of commercial

banks is of main importance for the country because of their strong presence especially in the wealthy

regions. And therefore our results cannot establish any role for rural banks at the national level. When

we study the sample of the intermediate economically developed regions, we find the same results as

for the nationwide economy that we can interpret identically.

On the contrary, when we analyze the seven less developed regions, our results show a positive impact

of financial depth on economic growth. This effect is more substantial when financial depth is

measured as the ratio of credit to gross regional domestic product than by banking office density. To

favor the economic activity in these regions, it seems more important to facilitate the access to the

credit market rather than to develop the number of offices. Moreover for this sample, we observe that

rural bank presence impact positively on economic development as we could expect from the Spearman

rank-order tests. These less developed regions, where the GRDP is mainly driven by the agricultural

and fishery sector, fully benefit from the specificity of the rural finance well-fit to the primary sector.

Finally, these results for the less developed regions are strengthened when we restrict this sample to the

four regions (Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Bicol, and CARAGA) for which the credit market share of the

rural banks represents at least 25% of loans granted at the end of the studied period. Our results suggest

that a threshold might exist, under which it is easiest to underline the link between financial and

economic development. Above this threshold regional economic activity is mainly driven by real

factors such as innovation, education, entrepreneurship, among others.

Page 16: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

16

Table 5. Cointegration relationship: long run estimation between financial and economic development

Dependent variable: PC_RGDRP

Financial depth

Credit Banking office density

All regions

(N1 = 204 (Included observations = 156) ; N2 = 16) Financial depth -1.14

(3.60) -2.35

(-1.94) Rural bank credit market share -0.85

(-0.87) -0.27

(-0.42)

Intermediate developed regions

(N1 = 78 (Included observations = 60) ; N2 = 6) Financial depth -2.48

(-3.30) -2.94

(-2.15) Rural bank credit market share -0.47

(-0.72) 0.75

(1.67)

Less developed regions

(N1 = 87 (Included observations = 66) ; N2 = 7) Financial depth 7.633

(0.954) 0.99

(0.28) Rural bank credit market share 5.68

(1.24) 1.28

(1.52)

Less developed regions for which RB Credit share > 25%

(N1 = 48 (Included observations = 36) ; N2= 4) Financial depth 2.00

(5.63) 1.18

(4.00) Rural bank credit market share 0.54

(3.34) 0.11

(1.50) N1 and N2 are respectively the number of observations and the number of cross-section units.

Section 5. Conclusion

This paper aims to identify the role played by rural banks, as part of the Philippine financial nexus, on

the economic development using macroeconomic data. The period studied on the one hand is relatively

short because of data availability, and on the other hand, includes the Asian crisis which makes more

difficult the identification of a long term relationship between financial and economic development.

Page 17: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

17

As expected, our results cannot show an impact of rural banks at the national level because rural

finance represents only a small proportion of the banking activity. However, in the case of the less

developed regions, and when rural bank presence is relatively significant, an increase in the credit

market share of rural banks strengthens the economic development of the region.

Our research may encourage continuing government efforts aimed at developing the Philippine rural

banking sector and in increasing the volume of investments in the regions. Policy implications may

include the need to enhance confidence in the Philippine rural banking system, to encourage savings in

regional rural banks, and to ensure efficient transfer of resources from savers to investors.

Page 18: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

18

References

Agabin, M., and J.L. Daly. (1996) An Alternative Approach to Rural Financial Intermediation: The

Philippine Experience. Washington, D.C.: Chemonics International.

Angbazo, L. (1997) “Commercial bank net interest margins, default risk, interest-rate risk, and off-

balance sheet banking,” Journal of Banking and Finance, 21:55-87.

Apergis, N., Filippidis, I. and Economidou, C. (2007) “Financial Deepening and Economic Growth

Linkages: A Panel Data Analysis ,” Review of World Economics, 143(1)179-198.

Aziz, J. & Duenwald, C. (2002) “Growth-Financial Intermediation Nexus in China,” IMF Working

Paper, WP/02/194.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (2007), Manual of Regulations for Banks. Available:

http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Regulations/MORB.pdf. (Accessed 2007 June 28).

Bandiera, O., Caprio, G., Honohan, P., and Schiantarelli, F (2000) “Does financial reform raise or

reduce private savings?,” Review of Economics and Statistics, 82(2): 239-63.

Beck T., Levine, R. and Loayza, N. (2000) “Finance and the sources of growth,” Journal of Financial

Economics, 58:261-310.

Bencivenga, V. R. and Smith, B. D. (1991) “Financial intermediation and endogenous growth,” Review

of Economic Studies, 58:195-209.

Bencivenga, V. R. and Smith, B. D. (1998) “Economic development and financial depth in a model

with costly financial intermediation,” Research in Economics, 52:363-386.

Boyd, J. H. and E. C. Prescott (1986) “Financial Intermediary Coalitions,” Journal of Economic Theory,

38:211-212.

Burgess, R. and Pande, R. (2005) “Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking

Experiment,” American Economic Review, 95(3):780-795.

Calderón, C. and Liu, L. (2003) “The direction of causality between financial development and

economic growth,” Journal of Development Economics, 72:321-34.

Christopoulos, D. and Tsionas, G. (2004) “Financial development and economic growth: evidence from

panel unit root and cointegration tests,” Journal of Development Economics 73:55–74.

Dauner Gardiol, I., Helms, B., and Deshpande, R. (2005) “Philippines. Country-Level Savings

Assessment”, CGAP Savings Initiative

Page 19: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

19

Demetriades P. O. and Hussein, K. A. (1996) “Does financial development cause economic growth?

Time-series evidence from 16 countries,” Journal of Development Economics, 51:387-411.

Demirguc-Kunt, A. and Huizinga, H. (1999) "Determinants of commercial bank interest margins and

profitability: Some international evidence ". World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 1900.

Demirguc-Kunt, A. and Huizinga, H. (2000) "Financial structure and bank profitability". World Bank

Policy Research Working Paper No. 2430.

Greenwood, J. and B. Jovanovic (1990) “Financial development, growth, and the

distribution of income,” Journal of Political Economy, 98:1076-1107.

Ho, T.S. Y. and Saunders, A. (1981) “The determinants of bank interest margins: theory and empirical

evidence,” The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 16(4):581-600.

Kelly, R., and G. Mavrotas (2003) ‘Savings and Financial Sector Development: Panel Cointegration

Evidence from Africa,” WIDER Discussion Paper No. 2003/12. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER.

King, R. G. and Levine, R. (1993a) “Finance and growth: Schumpeter might be right,” Quarterly

Journal of Economics, 108:717-37.

King, R. G. and Levine, R. (1993b) “Finance, entrepreneurship and growth: theory and evidence,”

Journal of Monetary Economics, 32:1-30.

Levine, R. (1997) “Financial development and economic growth: views and agenda,” Journal of

Economic Literature, 35:688-726.

Levine, R. (2004) “Finance and growth: Theory and evidence,” Available:

http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac/Ross_Levine/Publication/Forthcoming/Forth_Book_Durlauf_FinNGro

wth.pdf (Accessed 2007 June 28).

Llanto, G. (2005) Rural Finance in the Philippines: Issues and policy challenges, Agricultural Credit

Policy Council and Philippine Institute for Development Studies.

Lowe, P. (1992) "The Impact of financial intermediaries on resource allocation and economic growth,"

Research Bank of Australia Research Discussion Paper No. 9213.

McKinnon, R. (1973) Money and Capital in Economic Development, Washington, DC: Brookings

Institution.

Pedroni P. (2004) "Panel Cointegration: Asymptotic And Finite Sample Properties Of Pooled Time

Series Tests With An Application To The Ppp Hypothesis," Econometric Theory, Cambridge

University Press, 20(03): 597-625.

Page 20: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

20

Pedroni P. (1999) "Critical values for Cointegration Tests in Heterogeneous Panels with Multiple

Regressors", Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 61 (1): 671-690.

Shaw, E. (1973) Financial Deepening in Economic Development, New York: Oxford, University Press.

Wachtel, P. and Rosseau, P. (1995) Financial Intermediation and Economic Growth: A Historical

Comparison of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. In M.D. Bordo and R. Sylla, Eds.

Anglo-Amercian Financial Systems. New York: Irwin Professional Publishing.

Page 21: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

21

Table A1. Comparative Net Loan Portfolio of RCBs per Economic Sector (2005, 2000-2005)

Agriculture, Fisheries and

Forestry (AFF)

Industry (IND) Services (SERV)

Region 2005 Average 2005 Average 2005 Average

NCR 14.15% 17.07% 3.83% 10.44% 82.02% 72.49%

CAR 41.96% 17.84% 9.13% 25.20% 48.91% 56.95%

Northern Mindanao 39.07% 29.91% 0.81% 16.13% 60.12% 53.96%

Davao 45.92% 44.15% 1.48% 2.96% 52.59% 52.89%

Central Visayas 34.29% 22.12% 10.75% 29.86% 54.95% 48.02%

South Luzon 43.89% 45.29% 9.54% 9.22% 46.57% 45.49%

Western Visayas 59.00% 49.21% 2.82% 9.50% 38.18% 41.29%

Socksargen 47.19% 31.89% 2.43% 12.73% 50.38% 55.38%

Central Luzon 44.60% 45.80% 8.27% 8.35% 47.12% 45.85%

Zamboanga

Peninsula 36.97% 32.11% 1.11% 9.47% 61.93% 58.42%

Ilocos 48.49% 26.13% 7.70% 23.98% 43.81% 49.89%

Cagayan Valley 54.14% 50.65% 1.56% 15.96% 44.30% 33.39%

CARAGA* 27.74% 30.23% 2.41% 3.18% 69.85% 66.59%

Eastern Visayas 66.38% 50.28% 1.26% 16.65% 32.36% 33.07%

Bicol 50.27% 51.64% 18.23% 15.34% 31.50% 33.02%

ARMM 39.08% 13.19% 0.10% 14.73% 60.82% 72.08%

Average 43.32% 34.84% 5.09% 13.98% 51.59% 51.17%

Page 22: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

22

Figure A1. Regional Market Share in Offices of Banks (1993-2005)

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Ilocos

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Northern Mindanao

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Davao

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Socsargen

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

CAR

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

ARMM

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

CARAGA

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

NCR

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Cagayan Valley

.15

.20

.25

.30

.35

.40

.45

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Central Luzon

.20

.24

.28

.32

.36

.40

.44

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

South Luzon

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Bicol

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Western Visayas

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Central Visayas

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Eastern Visayas

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

PBO_UCB PBO_TB PBO_RCB

Zamboanga

Page 23: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

23

Figure A2. Regional Market Share in Total Assets of Banks (1993-2005)

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Ilocos

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Northern Mindanao

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Davao

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Socsargen

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

CAR

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

ARMM

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

CARAGA

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

NCR

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Cagayan Valley

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Central Luzon

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

South Luzon

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Bicol

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Western Visayas

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Central Visayas

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Eastern Visayas

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Zamboanga

Page 24: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

24

Figure A3. Regional Market Share in Deposit Liabilities of Banks (1993-2005)

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Ilocos

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Northern Mindanao

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Davao

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Socsargen

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

CAR

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

ARMM

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

CARAGA

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

NCR

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Cagayan Valley

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Central Luzon

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

South Luzon

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Bicol

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Western Visayas

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Central Visayas

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Eastern Visayas

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Zamboanga

Page 25: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

25

Figure A4. Regional Market Share in Net Loan Portfolio of Banks (1993-2005)

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Ilocos

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Northern Mindanao

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Davao

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Socsargen

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

CAR

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

ARMM

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

CARAGA

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

NCR

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Cagayan Valley

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Central Luzon

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

South Luzon

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Bicol

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Western Visayas

.0

.1

.2

.3

.4

.5

.6

.7

.8

.9

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Central Visayas

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Eastern Visayas

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05

UCB TB RCB

Zamboanga

Page 26: Philippine Rural Banks and Economic Development

26

Figure A5. Average Intermedition Rates for the Period 1993-2005

0%

100%

200%

300%

400%

500%

600%

Iloco

s

Cagay

an V

alley

Centra

l Luz

on

SouthL

uzon

Bicol

Western

Visaya

s

Centra

l Visa

yas

Easter

n Visa

yas

Zambo

anga

Pen

insula

Northe

rn M

indan

ao

Davao

Socks

argen

CARARMM

CARAGA* NCR

UKB TB RCB