The German financial system is characterized by lower degrees of penetration by foreign commercial banks and of (bank) disintermedation than, for instance, that of the United States. These differences between the two countries could be attributed to the fact that universal banking in Germany...

Freier internationaler Kapitalverkehr kann eine Reihe von positiven Effekten auf die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung haben. Kapital wird in die produktivsten Investitionsprojekte gelenkt, Investitionsrisiken werden gestreut, neue Technologien verbreitet, und effiziente Finanzsysteme können sich...

One key focus of the on-going debate on the integration of international financial markets have been measures to lengthen the maturity of foreign debt. Short-term debt is typically considered to be volatile and thus a potential trigger of currency crises. In contrast to the vivid policy debate...

Pecking order models of international finance suggest that countries should become less reliant on international bank lending as they develop. Reduced information costs are one of the factors behind this trend towards disintermediation. This paper presents a simple model on the choice between...