This paper provides a new perspective to evaluate the economic role played by banks in non-performing loans (NPLs) accumulation. We estimate a benchmark NPL levels on the judicial inefficiency dimension, controlling for country- and bank-specific factors. To this end, first, we empirically...

We investigate the causal relationship between the efficiency of country’s judicial system and the quality of bank lending, using the contracts enforcement reforms that have been implemented in four European countries as a quasi-natural experiment. We find that strengthening of contract...