Economic Empowerment: Unveiling Asian Bank Performance Trends

This research undertakes a comprehensive and pioneering investigation into the determinants of commercial bank performance across diverse Asian economies, analyzing data from 71 banks over the period 2010 to 2022. Utilizing an array of financial metrics -such as Return on Assets, Return on Equity, Profit Margin, and Net Interest Margin—this study augments traditional indicators with additional covariates like technical, resource, and profit efficiency as captured by the Malmquist Productivity Index. Further variables, including intellectual capital, effective tax rates, loan growth, and income diversity, enrich the analytical depth. The study employs the sophisticated System Generalized Method of Moments (sGMM) as its methodological cornerstone, allowing for robust hypothesis testing that scrutinizes the interplay between profitability and an array of efficiency and financial metrics. The novelty of the research lies in its encompassing scope: it extends beyond the limitations of existing scholarship by focusing on a heterogeneous collection of Asian economies and leveraging a larger and more robust sample size. These design attributes not only address critical gaps in the extant literature but also significantly enhance the study’s generalizability, offering a nuanced, comparative lens through which to understand bank performance across varied economic landscapes.