The introduction of a common currency as well as the harmonization of rules and regulations in Europe has significantly reduced distance in all its guises. With shrunken costs of overcoming space, this emphasizes centripetal forces and it should foster consolidation of financial activity. In a...

Studies employing micro price data to examine the extent of international goods market integration tend to find that borders imply arbitrage-impeding transaction costs, inducing market segmentation. Within monetary unions, these effects are found to be very minor though, at least when online...

With the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing, banks face a challenging environment. They will need to address disappointing results and adverse balance sheet restatements, the intensity of which depends on the evolution of the euro area economies. At the same time, vulnerable...

This policy letter adds to the current discussion on how to design a program of government assistance for firms hurt by the Coronavirus crisis. While not pretending to provide a cure-all proposal, the advocated scheme could help to bring funding to firms, even small firms, quickly, without...

The paper provides an overview and an economic analysis of the development of the corporate governance of German banks since the 1950s, highlighting peculiarities - as seen from the meanwhile prevailing standard model perspective - of the German case. These peculiarities refer to the specific...

Hans-Michael Heitmuller The financing of public funds has become a strongly competitive business. Within the EU, national boundaries for this sphere have been formally removed as well as important hindrances to the trade of goods and services. Deregulation and technological innovations have...