Cooperative banks are small and their survival is not guaranteed by the "Too Big To Fail" policy so that their default can be concrete in time of crises. We analyze the contribution of efficiency to cooperative bank probability of default. We estimate several measures of bank efficiency...

This paper analyzes the causes and consequences of the enforcement actions (sanctions) imposed by supervisory authorities for banks. Focusing on a sample of Italian banks between 2005 and 2012, we found 302 sanctions regarding 3,588 persons (i.e. Board of directors, Top Managers, and Chief...

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...

We analyze what are the main pricing components for performing loans. By exploiting a survey conducted by the authors in AIFIRM (2021), we provide empirical evidence about whether and to what extent various pricing criteria are related to interest income within the internal model framework. Our...

We analyze the impact of efficiency on bank risk. We also consider whether bank capital has an effect on this relationship. We model the inter-temporal relationships among efficiency, capital and risk for a large sample of commercial banks operating in the European Union. We find that reductions...

We evaluate the impact of commonly used indicators of bank distress on broad (sector and country) risks. Our results show that several measures of individual bank risk impact on banking (systemic) and overall (systematic) stock market risk. Our results provide strong evidence suggesting that...

A large number of studies (DeYoung et al., 2009) analyze merger outcomes in the financial industry, while other forms of business cooperation are still poorly investigated. Our paper examines results of strategic alliances and joint ventures in European and US banking over the period 1999 and...

On 11-12 November 2008, SUERF and Banque Centrale du Luxembourg organized a conference on Productivity in the Financial Services Sector on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg. The conference addressed three main themes: first, stylized facts on banks'...

This paper discusses the effects of small banks on economic growth. We first theoretically show that small banks operating at a regional level can spur local economic growth. As compared with big interregional banks, small regional banks are more effective in promoting local economic growth,...