Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of regulatory reform on the asset allocation and capitalization of Chinese banks from 2002 to 2007, a period following China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Design/methodology/approach – The evidence rejects a...

This paper investigates the effects of focus versus diversification on bank performance using data on Chinese banks during the 1996-2006 period. We construct a new measure, economies of diversification, and compare the results to those of the more conventional focus indices, which are based on...