The Corporate Governance of Banks: A Concise Discussion of Concepts and Evidence

Levine, Ross

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: ACCOUNTING;    ASSET PRICES;    AUDITING;    BANK ASSETS;    BANK CAPITAL;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3404
RP-ID  :  WPS3404

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The author examines the corporategovernance of banks. When banks efficiently mobilize andallocate funds, this lowers the cost of capital to firms,boosts capital formation, and stimulates productivitygrowth. So, weak governance of banks reverberates throughoutthe economy with negative ramifications for economicdevelopment. After reviewing the major governance conceptsfor corporations in general, the author discusses twospecial attributes of banks that make them special inpractice: greater opaqueness than other industries andgreater government regulation. These attributes weaken manytraditional governance mechanisms. Next, he reviews emergingevidence on which government policies enhance the governanceof banks and draws tentative policy lessons. In sum,existing work suggests that it is important to strengthenthe ability and incentives of private investors to exertgovernance over banks rather than to rely excessively ongovernment regulators. These conclusions, however, areparticularly tentative because more research is needed onhow legal, regulatory, and supervisory policies influencethe governance of banks.