Using Bank of Italy data on Italian banks in the period 1990-2004, the paper analyses the short and long-run effects of the concentration of the banking industry on the availability of credit to small and medium-sized firms. Our study employs a bank-based approach and investigates the...

This paper shows the results of a survey on firms regarding the changes that are occurring in the bank-firm relationship in view of Basel II. The survey has been conducted on an national basis together with a local one directed to small firms localized in the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Puglia...

This paper analyzes the linkages between banks� profitability and the main real and financial indicators. The results, derived by means of a reduced-form model for the period 1984-2002, highlight a strict relation between all income and cost components and the evolution of the economic...

This paper investigates the effects of the increasing activity of foreign banks in Italy, distinguishing between credit granted to households and firms. Foreign banks display a differentiated degree of business expansion across the provinces, we exploit this variability to measure how foreign...

Causes and consequences of the current "subprime" financial crisis are analysed. The large number of fraudulent and criminal mortgages obtained by means of false statements unverified by the mortgagees, explains why this crisis was not predicted. The crisis was enhanced by unwise regulations...

Questo lavoro esamina la distinzione analitica che esiste tra la moneta e i depositi bancari, con particolare riferimento al funzionamento di una moderna economia monetaria di produzione. In generale, i teorici del circuito monetario considerano la moneta in quanto mezzo di pagamento, mentre gli...

Bank lending expanded rapidly in Italy in the second half of the 1980s and early 1990s. By contrast, in the four years 1993-96 it rose moderately, and in real terms it diminished. The paper addresses some questions in the light of these trends: Was there a structural change in firms’ demand...

The banking industry is consolidating at an accelerating pace, yet no conclusive results have emerged on the benefits of mergers and acquisitions. We analyze the Italian market, which is similar to other main European countries. By considering both acquisitions (i.e. the purchase of the majority...

In 2007 the new framework for capital adequacy of banks (Basel 2), defined in 2004 by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision, will replace the 1988 Accord (Basel 1) in all major countries. In the last years the Committee has carried out several impact studies in order to simulate the...

The paper reviews the supply of different mortgage instruments to Italian households by means of data obtained from a survey conducted in 2007 by the Bank of Italy over more than 300 banks. The results document significant innovations in housing finance in the last five years: a greater variety...