Technology Regulatory Stringency Index and Bank Stability Moderating Role of Bank Size: Evidence from 24 Pakistani Banks, 2015-2024 (Responsible Education Learning and Teaching in Emerging Economies)

Summary

• The study covers 24 Pakistani commercial banks over 2015-2024.p.1
• The Technology Regulatory Stringency Index rose from 0.12 in 2015 to 1.00 in 2023 and 2024.p.2
• The panel has 240 observations, and the primary ln(Z-score) sample is 228 after excluding non-positive Z-scores.p.5
• The TRSI x centred bank size interaction is positive (b = 0.1538) with a clustered p value of .191 and a bootstrap p value of .499, so moderation is not supported.p.7
• In Z-score levels the interaction is b = 0.5347 (p = .645), and in the balanced positive-Z panel b = 0.1465 (p = .223).p.8
• TRSI correlates 0.987 with calendar year, which limits identification of its standalone effect.p.9

Key insights

1. The wild cluster bootstrap with 999 replications is used because only 24 clusters can make conventional clustered errors over-reject.p.6
2. The preferred two-way fixed-effects model has an R² of 0.9317.p.7
3. The exploratory TRSI coefficient turns negative (b = -0.1906) once a quadratic time trend is added, showing a sign reversal.p.8
4. The bootstrap p value of .499 is the more reliable guide than the clustered p value of .191.p.9
5. The data do not provide statistically significant evidence that bank size moderates the link between technology regulation and stability.p.8
6. Governance quality, third-party oversight and incident response may matter more than asset size.p.10