The effect of bank regulatory capital on the risk, efficiency and profitability: evidence from GCC countries

Purpose This paper seeks to examine the impact of regulatory capital on the risk, efficiency and profitability of commercial banks in GCC countries. Design/methodology/approach We collect data from 105 commercial banks for the period 2002–2021. Our final dataset comprises 1,385 bank-year observations. We apply both generalized methods of moments (GMM) and ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation techniques. Findings We apply both GMM and OLS estimation techniques. We document a negative effect of banks’ regulatory capital on risk and efficiency and a positive effect on profitability. Our results remain consistent across a battery of robustness tests including different estimation techniques and alternative proxies. The negative impact of capital on efficiency fades away as the size of banks increases. Moreover, the positive impact of regulatory capital on profit is more pronounced for larger banks. Originality/value Studies examining the impact of banks’ capital on risk, efficiency and profitability are scarce in the context of GCC banks. Our research thus fills this important gap in the literature. The findings of this research imply that commercial banks in GCC countries can increase (decrease) profitability (risk) by increasing capital buffers. However, banks should find the optimal level as higher capital is positively associated with banks’ inefficiency.