Estimating the Determinants of Bank Profitability in the European Union from 1998-2013

The main goal of this research paper is to ascertain the determinants of differences in bank profits between the EU countries in the period from 1998-2013. The research paper will focus on the three regions of countries including the group of European countries from the Northwest, Mediterranean countries and new entrants of the European Union. All current member states of the EU will be included in my research, with the new entrant group including all countries entering the European Union since 2004. The regions of countries and the ROA determinants will be compared in the pre-recession (1998-2006), the recession (2007-2008) and the post-recession (2009-2013) time period