The effect of financial structure on crises : universal banking in interwar Europe

This paper examines the link between banking structure and financial fragility across Europe during the 1920s and 1930s using a new database. Monthly and annual data are analyzed to show that countries with universal banking were more likely to experience crises. Furthermore, those countries with universal banking, which have a crisis, are shown to experience a slowdown in their economic growth. -- Great Depression ; Banking Crisis ; Real Effects of Crises ; Universal Banking