This paper examines whether lending structure can lower credit risk by employing econometric techniques of panel data for the Vietnamese banking system at the bank level used by economic sectors from 2011 to 2016. New light is being shed on assessing the impact of each industry’s debt outstanding on credit risk. Adopting findings from previous studies, we assess credit risk from two different sources, including loan loss provision and non-performing loan. Moreover, we also focus on observing lending structure in many different aspects, from concentrative levels to the short-term and long-term stability levels of lending structure. The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator was applied to analyze the relationship between concentration and banking risks. In general, the results show that lending concentration may decrease credit risk. It is interesting to observe that the Vietnamese commercial bank lending portfolios have, on average, higher levels of diversity across different sectors. In particular, the increase in hotel and restaurant lending contributes to decrease credit risk while the lending portfolios of banks in agriculture, electricity, gas and water increase credit risk. This study suggests the need for further analysis and research about portfolio risks in lending activities for maintaining efficiency and stability in the commercial banking system.

Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
    2.1 Lending Structure Concentration
    2.2 Credit Risks
    2.3 The Relationship between Lending StructureConcentration and Credit Risks
3. Model and Estimation Methods
    3.1 Model
    3.2. Variable Description
    3.3 Data
4. Empirical Results
5. Conclusion
References

• Thi Thu Diem LE(School of Economics and Law, Tra Vinh University) Corresponding Author.
• Thanh Tung DIEP(School of Economics and Law, Tra Vinh University)