Since 2012 several central banks have introduced a negative interest rate policy (NIRP) aimed at boosting real spending by facilitating an increase in the supply and demand for bank loans. We employ a bank-level dataset comprising 6558 banks from 33 OECD member countries over 2012-2016 and a...

​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,...

This paper discusses the effects of small banks on local economic growth. We first theoretically show that small banks operating at a regional level can spur local economic growth; the effect is stronger in regions with lower initial endowments. We then test the model predictions using a sample...