Role of corporate governance in asset quality of banks: comparison between government-owned and private banks

Purpose This paper compares the impact of corporate governance determinants of asset quality between India's public and private sector banks. The article identifies which corporate governance determinant is better utilized between the two sectors. The findings empower the banking regulatory authorities and individual bank administrators to handle asset quality in a better manner through a robust corporate governance framework. The study's findings are also helpful for other nations to make informed judgments by countries with economic relations with India. Design/methodology/approach The article uses a dynamic panel data analysis method on novel data to achieve the purpose of this article. Using the General Method of Moments, the authors analyze 21 public and 24 private sector banks. The data used in this study span over a decade from 2010 to 2019. Findings According to the estimates, there is a significant difference in the impact made by corporate governance determinants on public sector banks vis-a-vis private sector banks. The results find that while board size has a greater impact on the asset quality of private banks, board independence has a lesser impact. Gender diversity contributes to more reduction of NPAs in private banks. The article also concludes that public banks perform better in the utilization of audit committee while private banks are better at using board meetings, CEO duality and ownership concentration. Originality/value Several papers have identified the determinants of asset quality in banks in various nations. However, to the authors' knowledge, none of the papers has identified the difference in the impact of corporate governance determinants between India's public and private sector banks separately. This article is the first to do so.