WHICH FACTORS MATTER TO DEPOSIT INSURANCE COVERAGE LIMIT? EVIDENCE FROM EMERGING MARKETS

This paper analyzes the effects of the household savings rate, interest rate spread and bank capital to total assets on the relationship between banks’ risk-taking and explicit deposit insurance coverage while controlling for certain macroeconomic factors, bank-level factors and political factors with data from 50 emerging markets. It is found that the U-shaped relationship between banks’ risk-taking and coverage is more apparent in countries with higher household savings rates, lower interest rate spreads or lower bank capital to total assets. The risk-minimizing coverage settings are analyzed and compared with the actual limits for emerging market economies in 2013. For emerging market countries, the effects of the household savings rate, deposit and loan spreads and banks’ capital to assets ratio should be fully considered when setting reasonable deposit insurance coverage, and their interaction with coverage should be emphasized.