This paper discusses the impact of deregulation and market integration policies on the structure of European banking markets. The paper argues that whether European integration will lead to an increased exploitation of scale advantages, or not, will depend on the extent to which competition in...

Given the extreme uncertainty surrounding financial markets, there are strong efficiency reasons to justify the use public funds for guarantee schemes and precautionary recapitalisations of fundamentally sound financial institutions. The former tackle the severe asymmetric information problems...

This paper assesses the integration strategy of the European Union in regulated network markets. The paper argues that in these markets integration should not be an end in itself. In regulated markets the conventional gains from trade or freedom of establishment may be outweighed by significant...