Determinants of Banking Profitability in Portugal and Spain: Evidence with Panel Data

Abstract

This article aims to study the determinants of banking performance in the countries of the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal and Spain. To achieve the proposed objective, the methodology of panel data was used, specifically the estimation method Generalized Method of Moments (GMM-system). An unbalanced panel of 267 banks was used, of which 122 belong to the Portuguese banking sector and 145 to the Spanish banking sector. Two variables were used as performance measures, the average return on total assets (ROAA) and the average return on equity (ROAE). The results show that bank profitability is generally influenced by internal variables, and not so much by sector-specific or macroeconomic variables. Therefore, the results suggest that management decisions are the ones that most influence performance. We conclude that bordering countries, despite having different economies, have very similar influences on bank profitability.