This paper examines the relationship between state ownership and banks' risk-taking in nine Asian emerging markets for the period 2009 to 2017. The finding shows that state-owned banks are associated with higher risk-taking in terms of credit risk and return volatility. In addition, we investigate the effect of corporate governance (CG) mechanism with monitoring committee, board independence and gender diversity on state-owned banks' risk-taking. We find that the presence of monitoring committee on board has a reducing effect on state-owned banks' risk-taking. We further argue that independent directors help to reduce banks' risk-taking where their supervision should be robust enough even if there is huge government intervention. Nonetheless, we do not find strong evidence on the role of female directors. In a nutshell, board functions play a crucial role in monitoring and supervising banks' investment decisions to prevent excessive risk-taking from the government, which is relatively important in the context of Asian emerging markets.

This study investigates state ownership on risk-taking behaviour in Malaysia’s banking industry. Using the panel of Malaysian commercial banks, this paper examines whether banks’ risk-taking is affected by Malaysian government ownership through the five largest investment arms of Malaysia (GLICs). The findings show that state-owned banks exhibit higher risk-taking behaviour compared to the private-owned banks in terms of loans. There is evidence that a higher degree of state ownership has a more significant impact on banks’ risk-taking behaviour. We also investigate the relationship with corporate governance mechanisms. The findings suggest that the composition of board of directors somehow plays a significant role in the governance of banks.

This study investigates state ownership on risk-taking behaviour in Malaysia’s banking industry. Using the panel of Malaysian commercial banks, this paper examines whether banks’ risk-taking is affected by Malaysian government ownership through the five largest investment arms of Malaysia (GLICs). The findings show that state-owned banks exhibit higher risk-taking behaviour compared to the private-owned banks in terms of loans. There is evidence that a higher degree of state ownership has a more significant impact on banks’ risk-taking behaviour. We also investigate the relationship with corporate governance mechanisms. The findings suggest that the composition of board of directors somehow plays a significant role in the governance of banks.

Manuscript type: Research paper Research aims: Liquidity creation is deemed important in the emerging markets banking industry. It turns out to be more challenging when subject to ownership issues, particularly state ownership. The government possesses substantial ownership in many large banks in Asian emerging markets and has a significant effect on firms’ stock liquidity through trading activity. Hence, state ownership is a key determinant of stock liquidity. This paper investigates the effect of state ownership on stock liquidity in Asian emerging markets. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using the GMM panel regression model, this study examines a sample of 209 banks in Asian emerging markets including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand from 2009 to 2018. For the robustness test, an alternative liquidity measure is conducted. Research findings: Results show that state ownership is positively related to stock liquidity, implying that the participation of the government provides investors’ confidence and perceives these stocks as value-enhancing stocks. However, this positive effect on stock liquidity turns out to be negative when the state ownership surpassed a certain threshold. Thus, this paper finds a non-linear inverse U-shaped relationship between state ownership and stock liquidity. Further analysis also shows that large banks tend to enjoy greater liquidity compared to smaller banks. Theoretical contribution/Originality: Unlike past studies that focus on other ownership structures, this study focuses on state ownership of large banks in emerging markets. This study contributes by collectively addressing the impact of state ownership on stock liquidity, with a focus on the banking industry in the Asian emerging markets context. Practitioner/Policy implications: The findings of this study can benefit investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders to better understand the impact of state ownership on stock liquidity. There are various implications in terms of investment decisions and corporate governance policies pertaining to corporate ownership structure. Research limitation: Future studies may consider conducting sub-samples using a different threshold of state ownership. Besides, this study focuses on the banking sector and hence the results may not be generalised.