The Scale-Efficiency version of the Efficient-Structure Hypothesis and the Structure-Conduct-Performance Hypothesis find empirical support in German banking data from 1998 to 2002. Due to the acceptance of the two hypotheses and the existence of overall economies of scale, we conclude that...

In this paper we analyze the degree of competition in the Hungarian household credit and deposit markets. We estimate discrete-choice, multinomial logit deposit service and loan demand functions for each bank and calculate the corresponding price elasticities. Two models of the banking industry...

An extensive empirical literature has documented the positive growth effects of equity market liberalization. However, this line of research ignores the impact of financial integration on a category of firms crucial for economic development, i.e. the small entrepreneurial firms. This paper aims...

This paper brings to the forefront the assumptions that we make when focusing on a particular type of explanation for bank profitability. We evaluate a broad field of research by introducing a general framework for a profit maximizing bank and demonstrate how different types of models can be...

This study examines and compares characteristics, financing patterns, and performance outcomes of women-owned and men-owned young entrepreneurial firms. Using fully imputed data from the Kauffman Firm Surveys of U.S. start-up firms, we first examine the differences in firm and owner...

We study how firms decide whether to continue an existing relationship or switch the vendor of outsourced services. Because of incomplete contracts and relationship-specific investments, client organizations may face switching costs, which in some cases may be large enough to render vendor...

We exploit exogenous shocks to the distance between corporate borrowers and both relationship- and competing banks from infrastructure improvements to analyze the causal impact of distance on lending. Reductions in travel time impact both new and existing borrowing relationships. Lower distance...

Researchers use (quasi-)experimental methods to estimate how shocks affect directly treated firms and households. Such methods typically do not account for general equilibrium spillover effects. I outline a method that estimates spillovers operating among groups of firms and households. I argue...

The aim of this study is to provide an empirical methodology for the estimation of market power of individual banks. The new method employs the well-known model of Panzar and Rosse (1987) and proposes its estimation using the local regression technique. Thus, a number of restrictive assumptions...

In this study, we assess whether banking system concentration is strongly linked to banks credit risk exposure. We use a sample of 138 commercial banks drawn from SADC countries between 1999 and 2005. The results exhibit no significant influence of concentration on four measures of credit...