Do partially privatised banks lag behind in performance? A case study on VakifBank

Abstract

This study analyses the privatisation of VakifBank in which the state (Turkey) retained majority control after the privatisation. In this context, the study compares post-privatisation financial performance of the bank with its privately owned competitors. Findings of the previous studies on the subject suggest that retained state control after privatisation will result in only modest (marginal) performance improvements. The study predicts that VakifBank is not an exception and hypothesises VakifBank's post-privatisation performance improvement to be modest compared with its privately owned competitors. Four different hypotheses for the four selected performance measures are constructed to test the post-privatisation performance of VakifBank. However, the findings reveal that VakifBank is an exception and achieved significant improvements in three of the four performance measures compared with its privately owned competitors. The study discusses the reasons behind the findings and the governance-related risks that VakifBank investors face. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.