Changes in Germany's bank-based financial system: A varieties of capitalism perspective

Throughout the 20th century Germany's financial system has been dominated by banks. Recently, however, a number of efforts have been made to increase the role of markets within this bank-based financial system, including regulatory innovations, changes in corporate governance, and a reform of the pension system. This paper finds that, despite these changes, there are a surprising number of continuities in the structure of the financial system. The German financial system can therefore still be characterized as bank-based. An explanation for this based on the Varieties of Capitalism viewpoint is advanced, which emphasizes complementarities and continuities in household savings and investment behavior and in patterns of company sector demand for finance.