This text is concerned with the increasingly important and problematic area of financial exclusion, broadly defined as the inability and/or reluctance of particular societal groups to access mainstream financial services. This has emerged as a major international policy issue. There is growing...

The completion of the European Single Market Programme (SMP) and the launch of 'Euroland' are bold statements on the European Union and its future. Within this economic process, the particular importance of the banking and financial services sectors is widely emphasized. This collection explores...

Both in global and European banking markets, banks and banking are undergoing fundamental changes. Deregulation, competition, technology and other developments have extended the frontiers of banking into the wider and ever-expanding financial services industry. Bank Strategies and Challenges in...

European banking is now changing at an unprecedented rate; competition and efficiency are now dominant banking concerns. This volume sees leading European researchers in the fields of banking and finance assess the key issues shaping the strategic development of banking in the EU. The first nine...

This study investigates the main determinants of Italian banks' cost efficiency over the period 1993-1996, by employing a Fourier-flexible stochastic cost frontier in order to measure X-efficiencies and economies of scale. Quality and riskiness of bank outputs are explicitly accounted for in the...