-interest rate environment, which fundamentally changed the business environment for the Japanese commercial banks. On the income … side, with interest margins becoming increasingly depressed, net interest revenues declined, which forced the banks to … expand revenues from fees and commissions. The banks had to cut costs by reducing the number of employees, closing branches …

By lending to SMEs at low geographical distance, banks can realise competitive advantage due to enhanced access to soft … information that allows the better screening of firms. As especially regional banks lend at a low distance, the decentralised … screening, it can no longer be assumed that modern regional banks "naturally" conduct credit decisions at lower distances to …

savings and cooperative banks - SMEs' most important financiers - hardly consider this aspect in lending to these businesses … case of regional banks into the debate on green finance and green banking and suggest future research in this context. In … discussing the state of research on the peculiarities of regional savings and cooperative banks, we outline the resulting …

This paper examines whether Japanese regional banks entering the banking market in other prefectures, including …-sized enterprises, the current Japanese Government's policies for regional banks require these banks to engage in region … was made using panel data from Japanese regional banks. As a result, it was determined that regional banks that enter …