We propose a novel technique to measure three aspects of banks' sectoral concentration that feature prominently in episodes of intensi fied (systemic) bank risk: specialization (capturing overexposures), differentiation (capturing indirect connectedness), and fi nancial sector exposure...

1. Financial innovation and the economics of banking and the financial system / David T. Llewellyn -- 2. Is financial innovation still a relevant issue? / Luisa Anderloni and Paola Bongini -- 3. Microfinance, innovations and commercialisation / Reinhard H. Schmidt -- 4. Technological innovation...

Banks play a critical role in facilitating international trade by guaranteeing international payments and thereby reducing the risk of trade transactions. This paper employs banking data from the U.S. to document new empirical patterns regarding the use of letters of credit and similar bank...

This study provides evidence that shocks to the supply of trade finance have a causal effect on U.S. exports. The identification strategy exploits variation in the importance of banks as providers of letters of credit across countries. The larger a U.S. bank's share of the trade finance market...