The impact of changes in bank ownership structure around the world

Large scale bank privatizations over the last ten years have resulted in vast changes in the ownership structure of banking sectors throughout the world. This dissertation explores both the macro and micro level effects of these changes in bank ownership structure. The first essay explores how changes in bank ownership structure affect capital allocation efficiency within countries. I find that the decline in government ownership of banks by itself does not have any impact on capital allocation efficiency; rather, what matters is whether foreigners or large domestic shareholders acquire the stakes relinquished by the government. Increases in domestic blockholder ownership of banks adversely affect the allocation of capital through increased lending activity to less productive industries, while increased foreign presence improves capital allocation efficiency by directing credit to more productive sectors and to industries that rely more on external financing.;In the second essay I explore how changes in bank ownership structure affect the performance of individual banks and the banking sector. The primary contribution of this essay is to examine the role of large domestic blockholders on bank performance. I find that increases in large domestic blockholder ownership of banks are associated with poor subsequent performance in terms of asset quality, profitability, and bank value. In contrast, increases in foreign ownership lead to improvements in profitability and bank value, consistent with prior findings. Government ownership of banks continues to affect bank performance adversely. Finally, increased presence of large domestic blockholders in the banking sector has a positive spillover effect on banking sector asset quality and profitability, while increased foreign presence is no longer associated with improvements in the competitiveness of the banking sector, contrary to what prior studies have found.