We hypothesize that features of European capital markets used to distinguish market reliance and investor protection have predictably influenced emerging national differences in bank capitalization, growth, and choice of income-producing activities. We characterize countries' capital regimes as...

Significant disagreement exists as to whether the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) influences the lending behavior of financial institutions. We conduct empirical tests on the lending of banks directly affected by regulatory enforcement of the CRA those experiencing upgrades or downgrades in...

Cross-country integration of banking in Europe typically has been analyzed from the perspective of particular markets for financial products. We extend this research to consider the potential effects of market integration on the portfolio choices and financial structure of banks in seven...

We hypothesize that national differences in capital market regimes influence competitive outcomes within European banking. Using bank-level data from 13 European countries, 1998 to 2004, we find that equity market development and shareholder protection are related to bank capitalization and that...

We analyze investment and financing decisions for a broad sample of affiliated and independent banks during the 1994-1998 period. Our results indicate that growth in lending at affiliated banks is supported by net equity financing flows from parent holding companies. We also provide evidence...