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Recently several countries have implemented explicit deposit insurance systems. In most countries the adoption of an explicit deposit insurance system followed a banking crisis. This paper examines the impact of demographic, social, and political factors on the presence of an explicit deposit insurance system in a country. Moreover, for a subset of countries with explicit deposit insurance system we try to identify demographic, political, economic, and financial factors that affect the level of deposit insurance coverage. The findings suggest that life expectancy and political rights are related to whether an explicit deposit insurance system is in place or not. For countries with explicit deposit insurance systems the level of income, the importance of the banking sector within the financial system, and the development of domestic banking sector have a significant impact on the level of deposit insurance coverage level. The level of income, deposit money bank assets to GDP ratio, bank overhead costs to total assets ratio, presence of co-insurance, and type of administration are statistically significant in explaining differences in the level of coverage among countries.

Deposit insurance legislation currently being considered by the U.S. Congress proposes to increase the nominal level of insurance coverage for the first time since the passage of DIDMCA in 1980. Since that time, the fixed nominal amount of coverage has resulted in an erosion of the real amount of coverage due to continued inflation. This paper examines the relationship between real coverage and bank risk at individual banks over the last 10 years. The findings suggest that the change in real coverage over time has not been associated with a change in risk at commercial banks. This results implies that legislation proposing to increase nominal and real coverage will not result in increased moral hazard behavior at banks.

AbstractIn recent years, commercial banking in the United States has experienced a decline in its traditional business of financing loans by issuing deposits. Simultaneously, banks have become more involved in nontraditional activities that provide financial services and generate fee income. As a result, real aggregate noninterest income has risen relative to income from traditional activities. This paper examines features common to banks that are heavily engaged in nontraditional areas. The empirical analysis suggests that these banks tend to be larger, have smaller net interest margins, have relatively fewer core deposits, and exhibit less risk. These findings have intuitive appeal and conform to conventional wisdom; while larger banks have fewer core deposits and face more competitive interest rate conditions, resulting in narrow spreads from traditional intermediation, they have more diverse sources of revenue and greater access to financial markets, which reduces risk.