Credit Risk : The Case of Italian Cooperative Banks

This paper aims to empirically test the credit risk, measured as non-performing loans, of cooperative banks which operate in a specific Italian geographic area (Lazio, Umbria and Sardegna).We perform a regression analysis over the period 1995-2009. The findings, in contrast with most of the studies on the topic, highlight a negative significant relationship between the level of non-performing loans and the granted extra-loans as well as a significantly negative relation between the non-performing loans and the increase of bank branches. Such results could be correlated to the peculiarities that characterize the examined banks