The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of institutional change on the evolution of the Italian bank branch distribution. As a consequence of the “liberalisation†of the late 1980s and early 1990s, banks were free to open new branches in their preferred locations, without...

Episodes of market crashes have fascinated economists for centuries. Although many academics, practitioners and policy makers have studied questions related to collapsing asset price bubbles, there is little consensus yet about their causes and effects. This review and essay evaluates some of...