2012-19: Re-designing banking structures: Are there lessons to be learnt from socialist systems? A study of five ASEAN economies (Working paper)

Abstract

This study contributes to the on-going worldwide debate on the future form of banking systems by examining the performance of a socialist ASEAN economy - Vietnam - with four other ASEAN but capitalist and transition economies - Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and China. The study finds that over the 1996-2009 period, the Vietnamese banking system may have performed better than the comparator countries across a number of dimensions, including size, structure, efficiency, profitability and stability. One implication of the findings is that there might be some merit in the socialist system of bank risk management and operation. Policy implications emerge, including that some aspects of the socialist banking system might be useful in considering the future of banking systems and structures in other parts of the world, including capitalist societies.