This paper offers evidence that bank managers adjust key strategic variables following a risk and/or valuation signal. Banks receive a risk signal when they have a substantially higher volatility compared to the best performing bank(s) with similar business model characteristics, and a valuation...

We investigate whether sovereign bond holdings of European banks are determined by a risk-return trade-off. Using data between 2011 and 2018 for 75 European banks, we confirm that banks exhibited risk-taking behavior during the sovereign debt crisis, e.g., due to moral suasion. In the period...

We explore the impact of concentration in the banking markets on the capital structure of publicly quoted non-financial firms in the EU15 over the period 1997- 2005, an era marked by intensive merger activity in the banking sector. Our main finding is a negative and significant relationship...

We investigate whether or not banks play a positive role in the ownership structure of European listed firms. We distinguish between banks and other institutional investors as shareholders and examine empirically the relationship between financial institution ownership and the performance of the...

Next to technological progress and deregulation, theintroduction of the euro is widely considered to be an importantcatalyst for bank consolidation in Europe. In order to assessthe public policy issues surrounding bank mergers, this paperanalyzes the efficiency effects of 52 horizontal bank...