Germany's bank-based financial system provides a high level of financial inclusion, measured by bank outreach and use of financial services. However, the most vulnerable individuals and small enterprises in Germany tend to be excluded or credit constrained. The quality of financial inclusion is...

Strong lending relationships between banks and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in the bank-based financial system of Germany. So far, they have been mainly described by the notion of a housebank and transactional features of long-term bank-customer relationships. In...

Die Strukturen der Unternehmensfinanzierung und -kontrolle haben sich weltweit grundlegend verändert, gekennzeichnet durch neue Kapitalmarktinstrumente, verstärktes Auftreten von Nichtbank-Finanzintermediären sowie zunehmende Arbeitsteilung zwischen den Marktteilnehmern. Der vorliegende...

This paper examines the composition of supervisory boards of German banks for a sample of 41 large banks in the period 1999-2006. We find that the supervisory board structure reflects both outside control by shareholders and inside control by stakeholders. Most of the non-employee board members...

This paper investigates the performance of Germany's three-pillar banking system in providing financial services nationwide, regarding different outreach indicators. At the federal state level, bank outreach shows South-North and West-East gaps. Combining regional and bank data at the district...

Since 1994, the German banking market is confronted with an entry wave of direct banks. This banking innovation may be explained by developments on the supply side as well as on the demand side. It is pushed by developments in telecommunication technologies during a period of rising cost...

Empirical research about structure, conduct and performance in banking markets has developed mostly independently from the microeconomic theory of banking. The present paper reviews the literature by focusing on the links between theoretical and empirical research. It considers basic conditions,...