Łukasz Kozłowski

Do local banking market structures matter for SME financing and performance? New evidence from an emerging economy

This paper investigates the relationship between local banking structures and SMEs’ access to debt and performance. Using a unique dataset on bank branch locations in Poland and firm-, county-, and bank-level data, we conclude that a strong position for local cooperative banks facilitates access to bank financing, lowers financial costs, boosts investments, and favours growth for SMEs. Moreover, counties in which cooperative banks hold a strong position are characterized by a more rapid pace of new firm creation. The opposite effects appear in the majority of cases for local banking markets dominated by foreign-owned banks. Consequently, our findings are important from a policy perspective because they show that foreign bank entry and industry consolidation may raise valid concerns for SME prospects in emerging economies. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Issuing Bonds, Shares or Staying Private? Determinants of Going Public in an Emerging Economy

The Warsaw Stock Exchange is one of Europe’s largest exchanges by the number of IPOs, although it retains features of a market in post-transition countries, including a relatively small size, shallowness and a weak institutional framework. In this study, we use a large dataset to explore firms’ decisions to issue equity on the main or alternative market and debt on the bond market. We observe that in general, larger, more profitable firms are more likely to go public, although in contrast to developed economies, these firms tend to be younger. Moreover, we find that current market valuation positively affects the decision to go public on the main market, and we establish that highly leveraged companies are more likely to issue either shares on the alternative market or bonds. At the same time, however, we observe that firms issuing shares on the alternative market are most likely to manipulate their profitability prior to going public.

The Economic Impact of Changes in the Local Bank Presence

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the economic consequences of changes in the local bank presence. Using a unique data set of banks, firms and counties in Poland over the period 2009–14, it is shown that changes strengthening the relationship banking model are associated with local labour market improvements and easier small and medium-sized enterprise access to bank debt. However, only the appearance of new, more aggressive owners of large commercial banks stimulates new firm creation.

Influence of internet and social media presence on small, local banks’ market power

ABSTRACT We study the impact of Internet and social media presence on the market power of small, local banks in Poland. We observe that small banks, which generally embraced new distribution and communication channels considerably later than the large commercial banks, had to forego a portion of their market power to defend market shares or reach new customers. The size of the market power sacrifice was greater when small banks competed against numerous banks within their local markets and particularly substantial when they were outnumbered mostly by large commercial banks.

The Influence of Social Media and Internet Presence on Small, Local Banks’ Market Power: New Evidence from an Emerging Economy

We study the impact of late adoption of online banking and early presence on social media on the market power of small banks in Poland. We combine publicly available information with two unique, hand-collected datasets on the geo-location of all bank branches and on small banks’ Internet and social media presence. We find that late-adopting banks must forego some of their market power to reach new customers through Internet banking. The size of the necessary market-power sacrifice is smaller when small banks primarily compete against their peers within local banking markets than against larger commercial banks. Additionally, we observe that an early and aggressive embrace of Facebook as a method of communication was beneficial for small local banks in terms of interest income.

Charakterystyki rynków lokalnych a decyzje banków dotyczące sieci placówek

This paper investigates how local market features influence the decisions taken by Polish banks regarding their branch networks. It was found that during the period 2007–2013 the density of branch networks was highest in relatively rich and urbanized regions. However, the rate of growth in the number of branches was more rapid in regions whose density of branches had hitherto been lower. It was found, moreover, that the presence of an entrepreneurial population had a positive impact on both the density and growth rate of branches.

Impact of Political Connections on Operational Performance: The Evidence from Poland

This study analyses the impact of political connections on the operational performance of non-financial firms in a context of a post-transition European economy. Using a new and detailed data set covering the 2001-2011 period, we found that politically connected firms are much more numerous in Poland than previously reported in the literature. We established that political connections usually lower profitability measured on the level of income from sales. However, the relationship between political connections and operational performance was affected by the characteristics of the former. Namely, the negative impact was the strongest when a firm possessed multiple connections, had politically connected members of the supervisory board and employed ex-politicians with central government experience. Therefore, our findings did not support claims based on the resource dependence theory that political connections improve the operational performance of firms.

Financial Constraints in Poland: The Role of Size and Political Connections

This article investigates the phenomenon of financial constraints in investment activities. Using a data set covering 2001-2011, we established that, despite the institutional changes and the financial system development, Polish firms remain financially constrained by the internally available funds. Additionally, we explored the impact of size and political connections on financial constraints. Unexpectedly we found that the financial constraints are not affected by either the size or the type nor the strength of political connections.

How Did Depositors React to the Recent Crisis? Evidence from the Central European Banking Industry

The Central European banking industry is dominated by foreign-owned banks. During the recent crisis, for the first time since the transition, foreign parent companies were frequently in worse financial conditions than their subsidiaries. This situation created a unique opportunity to study new aspects of depositor discipline. In this article, we investigate whether depositors flexibly accommodated to the changing sources of risk. We also analyse the informational foundations of depositors’ decisions. Using a comprehensive data set, we find that in Central European countries, the recent crisis did not change the sensitivity of deposit growth rates to accounting risk measures. Additionally, we establish that depositors’ actions are much more strongly influenced by press rumours concerning parent companies than by fundamentals and that public aid announcements are interpreted primarily as confirmation of a parent company’s financial distress. Our results have policy implications and illustrate the importance of reputational capital during periods of crisis.