As bad credit has been on the rise since the end of 2008, results of a study on who has been the best credit officer over the last decade has attracted greater attention. At the end of 2008 and during 2009 the global financial crisis made itself felt in Albania through lack of liquidities and a tightening of credit policies. Albania was only slightly exposed to the world financial crisis, since the banking system here is more traditionally-oriented (centered on deposits and loans) and had but limited exposure in speculative operations. The crediting process is the banking system’s key process; from it comes interest based on credit performance.
A group of three foreign economists has undertaken the study of crediting data of an Albanian bank for the decade 1996-2006. Professor Thorsten Beck of the University of Tilburg and his assistants Patrick Behr and Andre Gutler have gone through 43,000 credit requests and 31,000 credit contracts and have noted the gender of the credit officer, reports the local press (Shqip, 30.08.2009) which adds jokingly that the three researchers are of the opposite gender.
Women did better
The credits were monitored and contracted by a group of 203 credit officers in 5 counters of the bank in Tirana, the capital of Albania. The bank offered credit to persons with low income as well as to small businesses. The study noted loans over 30 days overdue and the gender of the credit officer. As a result the researchers found that loans requested by women borrowers and serviced by women credit officers had less probability of turning into problematic credits.
On the other hand, credits serviced by women credit officers resulted in less problematic loans even when the borrowers were men. The overall probability that the given loan turned into a delinquent loan was found to reach 13.5 % of all loans. Female credit officers were found to have a probability 4.5 % lower than male credit officers of having their loans becoming problem loans. The study also found the male credit officers had more experience than their female counterparts. This, however, did not help their credit granting performance.
Gender versus experience
Women credit officers were on average two years younger than male credit officers. Their behavior during the credit granting process did not seem to have been more strict and their analyses more severe than their male counterparts. They are reported to have selected better borrowers and to have turned down greater numbers of would-be borrowers. Female credit officers were found to work successfully handling the same work load as their male counterparts.
Selective process
The hypotheses advanced by researchers include a better visual profiling of the clients by women credit officers and a better performance entrained by lower job opportunities in the Albanian job market. Since women in Albania have less employment opportunities, this may have led them to improve their abilities at profiling, risk analysis and understanding creditor behavior, suggest the researchers. This is the first study of its kind in Albania.
Shqip suggested that in the banking sector the large majority of employees are women. In some banks their presence may reach up to 80 %. Some banks are reported to have tried to balance the ratio of women and men workers, but have not managed to come to the results wished for. 16 second level banks are actually operating in Albania. They employ a total of nearly 6500 employees.
