Consolidation, ownership structure and efficiency in the Italian banking system

This paper aims to analyze the effects of Italian banking consolidation during the nineties on the efficiency of the financial system, on competition in the market forbanking and financial services, and on the reallocation of bank ownership. Whereas a review of the recent theoretical and empirical literature shows that none of these aspects has received an unequivocal solution, an analysis of the Italian case indicates that the banking consolidation processes were accompanied by gains in efficiencyand competitiveness. Consolidation did not, however, offset the increasing distortions in the ownership structure of a large part of the Italian banking groups.