Bank international diversification on home bias, profitability and risk: Evidence from emerging and industrial countries

In the study of the effects of international diversification, many researches focused on the benefits of industrial countries. This study aimed to further this work by seeking to determine whether a consolidated group of international banks with extensive global exposures would be able to diversify away from firm-specific risks for both emerging and industrial countries. This paper examined the effects of international diversification in banking of 195 consolidated groups from six emerging and nine industrial countries from 2001 to 2006, using the generalized method of moments. The results showed that the risk-adjusted profitability of eight countries was rising significantly, and the systematic risks of the six countries were decreasing. However, home bias phenomenon was notably indicated. The findings of this study contributed to the international diversification assessment.