This article analyses the cost and profit efficiencies of cooperative banks. Cooperative banks are small financial institutions providing financial services in several local geographical areas, and they play a fundamental role in various European banking systems. Even though these small...

Cooperative banks are small credit institutions, and they are more likely than commercial banks to default in periods of financial stability. Focusing on Italy (one of the largest cooperative banking markets), we analyze the contribution of efficiency to the estimation of the probability of...

When the Covid-19 crisis struck, banks using internal-rating based (IRB) models quickly recognized the increase in risk and reduced lending more than banks using a standardized approach. This effect is not driven by borrowers' quality or by banks in countries with credit booms before the...