This paper analyses structural and cyclical determinants of banking profitability in 16 Western European countries. We find that financial structure matters, particularly through the beneficial effect of the capital market orientation in the respective national financial system. Furthermore,...

We propose a novel identification strategy for estimating the effects of business group affiliation. We study two-firm business groups, some of which split up during the sample period, leaving some firms as stand-alones. We instrument for stand-alone status using shocks to the industry of the...

The paper studies how leverage is affected by different company and country based factors in a sample of 594 companies in thirteen countries in Western Europe for period the 2009-2013. Evidence is found that size and asset tangibility are positively related to debt/capital and debt/total assets...