The paper addresses the following questions. Does bank lending comprise a relatively large amount of finance for investment in Germany, and, if so, is this a consequence of bank representation on companies' supervisory boards (which, it is argued, reduces information asymmetries)? How strong is...

This paper argues that the role of universal banks in German industrialization has been over-emphasized. The contribution of universal banks to the financing of railway investment was overshadowed by that of the German states. The distinctive features of the relationship between universal banks...