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The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic placed many small businesses across the US in financial distress. In response to this, in March 2020 the US government introduced, as part of the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) intended to provide relief to small businesses and to preserve jobs during the pandemic. The latter resulted in three waves of funding distributed to small businesses through SBA approved lenders, mainly represented by US banks. By using a panel dataset of 4610 banks over the period Q1 2019–Q4 2020 and by employing a difference-in-differences approach (DiD), I investigate whether participation in the Paycheck Protection Program affected community banks' credit risk-taking behaviour in the post-PPP period, compared to their non-community banking counterparts in the US. I find that the Paycheck Protection Program led community banks to decrease their risk appetite outside of the program relative to non-community banks, consistent with their greater exposure to the commercial real estate sector, heavily hit by the pandemic. My results are robust to a battery of robustness tests and identification strategies. In this research article, I offer novel evidence on the indirect impact of the Paycheck Protection Program as a government-funded stimulus program administered through banks by investigating the indirect effect of the Paycheck Protection Program on the risk-taking of US community banks that dominate lending of PPP loans as a result of their competitive advantage in soft information-intensive small business lending. Such evidence is informative to policymakers as they weigh the merits of various program options to combat the economic damage imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and as they consider the design of economic stimulus programs in response to future economic crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The survivorship of firms under extreme weather poses an essential question about the local economy's health. Over 90% of agricultural banks are categorized as community banks, which are important financial institutions promoting local growth. While previous studies suggest that climate change and weather shocks adversely impact community banks' resiliency, studies on whether these institutions engage in risk-reducing management strategies have been limited. In this study, the authors examine strategic choices of local community banks when facing flood events which include (1) safety net increase, (2) portfolio diversification, and (3) branch opening. These strategic choices are the coping mechanisms banks can take to survive while affecting the local competitive lending market. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use panel-fixed effect regressions based on the storm data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Weather Service (NWS) and the call reports from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The authors focus on community banks' account variable characteristics and the number of offices to examine whether community banks take an active role in managing flood risk. Findings: Results suggest that community banks do employ the selected strategic choices to a certain degree, as it is found that there is an increase in the core capital that absorbs shocks and portfolio diversification. However, the magnitudes of these activities are rather small and not large enough to fully mitigate the climate risk. Also, the authors do not find any evidence of branch expansion associated with local floods. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by examining different strategic choices of community banks in the face of natural uncertainty. Even though concerns of climate risk have been raised in the regulatory setting, a lack of guidance or assessment tools could contribute to the passive action of these community banks, even though climate risks can have a significant economic impact. Thus, the evidence documented from this study calls for further guidelines and the importance of highlighting climate risks on community banks so that they can actively engage in risk-reducing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This teaching case addresses the digitization of the local social currency Palmas, issued since the beginning of the years 2000 as a paper currency by Banco Palmas, to a new hybrid model of mobile payments and mobile money, named E-Dinheiro. This is a social development and financial inclusion venture in Brazil, having already great national and international recognition. By telling the history of the community bank and some of its initiatives, this case intends to demonstrate the innovation process in a social fintech, addressing issues such as governance, platform management, information technology, business models and strategy. However, as its business model spreads to other community banks, new challenges emerge to ensure the growth and longevity of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local Bank (BPR) as one of the financial institutions in Indonesia in carrying out its activities collecting funds from the public in the form of savings and deposits and channeling back the funds collected through the provision of credit. This study aims to determine, describe and explain the Effect of Allowance for Bad Debt to the Level of Profitability in Subang BPR of Pabuaran Branch. The method used is descriptive method, and testing of the data - the data studied. The data used is data from the financial statements of PD BPR Subang of Pabuaran Branch in 2012 to 2015 with a monthly ratio reports. Any increase in the value of allowance for bad debt (X) of 1% would cause a rise in the value of profitability level in terms of the comparison of operating cost with operating income (Y) of 0.333% and vice versa. The conclusion is the level of allowance for bad debt does not significantly affect the level of profitability as measured by the comparison of operating expenses to operating income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of bank market structure differences within U.S. states on entrepreneurial activity. A panel model is used to evaluate differences in new firm starts within the states relative to the bank market structure and competition. The results indicate that states with more small banks, as measured by the number of unit banks, and banks with more branch locations contribute to new firm creation. Overall competition, as measured by the total number of banking institutions, has a negative effect on firm creation. There is limited evidence that bank failures also have a negative impact on firm creation within the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Positive economics predicts that Sub-S banks, with no taxes paid at the corporate level, will price their products lower than otherwise identical C corporation banks in a competitive environment. Alternatively, if banks price bundle their products, Sub-S tax benefits might have little (no) effect on product rates. The empirical analysis finds that Sub-S deposit (loan) rates are equal to or lower (higher) than similar C corporation bank rates. Thus, there is little evidence of any tax benefits accruing to Sub-S bank customers. In contrast, tax-exempt credit unions do offer higher deposit rates and lower loan rates than C corporation banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on findings of a study designed to develop and test measures suitable to assessing the perceived comparative contribution of Australian community banks and other more conventional banks to communities served, and the perceived impact of these banks on the well-being and quality of life of individuals who reside in those communities. Findings reveal that perceptions of the contribution of community banks to the sense of community and individual well being are significantly more favorable than those of more conventional banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the link between diversification and risk-adjusted performance for small community banks. The results show diversification benefits within broad activity classes, but not between them. Specific business lines are linked with very different ex post outcomes, however, so the mix of activities is also important. In particular, an increased focus on noninterest income-generating activities is associated with declines in risk- adjusted performance, as are commercial and industrial lending and trading. This is a potential dark side of the search to diversify as managers may enter businesses where they have little experience or comparative advantage. A final set of results shows significant differences in the determinants of risk-adjusted performance for community banks relative to larger banks, which suggests that a competitive opportunity remains for community banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the culture of a medium-sized community bank based in the Western United States. The study aims to identify the organization's culture and then measure the level of cultural cohesion that exists three years after a major cultural campaign was launched. The cultural characteristics the organization valued most highly were integrity, willingness to serve the customer and teamwork -- all components of the official bank document on culture. Interestingly, the analysis uncovered some significant value differences among different employee groups and also employees and management; differences which can affect firm performance levels. The analysis also revealed that changing the culture in an organization does not necessarily lead to cultural cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]