In the 1990s the banks established in the Italian South have reduced their cost-income ratios and improved their ability to screen customers, increasing profitability. The spread between the loan rates in the South and North has narrowed substantially. Taking into account differences in the size...

As expected, this comparison of the German and the UK banking systems shows substantial differences between the countries. In the UK, savings banks disappeared long ago and other regional banks have never become important in lending to business. Instead, the five large commercial banks dominate...

When looking at the Spanish banking market through a German lens, the differences between the banking markets in these countries and between decentralised and centralised systems with regard to the SME-credit decision-making process become obvious. Despite our hypotheses that Spanish savings...

We identify a new source of consolidation in the banking industry. For decades, boththe financial and real sides of the economy have experienced considerable consolidation. Weshow that banking-sector consolidation is, in part, a consequence of real-sector consolidation;because small banks are a...

This study empirically examines bank spatial competition within the rural banking setting of Indonesia. The specific focus is on bank cost efficiency. It presents a new competition measure based on two spatial variables: physical distances and Thiessen polygon market boundaries. This study uses...

This paper presents a new mechanism through which the geography of bank deposits increases financial fragility. We document the within-bank geographic concentration of deposits -- 30% of bank deposits are concentrated in a single county. We combine this within-bank geographic concentration of...

As more consumers take advantage of online banking services, branch networks are declining across the country. Limited attention has been given to identifying any possible spatial patterns of branch closures and, more importantly, the community demographics where branches close their doors. This...

This paper re-visits the state of decentralised banking in Germany, Spain and the UK. The cross-country comparison we conducted has identified Germany as having the most decentralised banking system, followed by Spain and the UK, as expected. The development of regional and double-purpose banks,...