We analyze the differences in lending policies across banks characterized by different types of ownership, using micro-level data on Euro area banks during the period 1999–2011 to detect possible variations in bank lending supply responses to changes in monetary policy. Our results identify a...

The Italian and German banking systems shared similar characteristics early in the 1990s but have evolved in different directions since then: Italy privatized its publicly-owned banks while Germany has maintained a large share of state-owned savings banks. Contemporaneously, banks in both...

In Romania, as in many Central and Eastern Europe countries, during the communist regime all the banks were owned by the state and their activities were circumscribed by rigid norms. After the communist regime had fallen, the state owned banks had to adapt to a competitive environment. The...

Using a sample of privately owned listed firms in China, we document that firms' political connections have a positive effect on their likelihood of becoming insolvent and inefficient (which we call zombies or zombie firms). The results are more pronounced for firms that are located in regions...

The Italian and German banking systems shared similar characteristics early in the 1990s but have evolved in different directions since then: Italy privatized its publicly-owned banks while Germany has maintained a large share of state-owned savings banks. Contemporaneously, banks in both...

Privatizing state-owned companies is usually an emotional subject with various stakeholders struggling to make their voices heard making it difficult to reach a compromise. This is exacerbated when privatization exercise involves state-owned banks due to volatility of the financial industry. The...

This article uses Israel's ongoing process of bank privatization to explore the link between privatization programs and ownership structure of public companies. Our thesis is that concentrated ownership provides regulators with a platform for exerting informal influence over corporate...

The Italian and German banking systems shared similar characteristics early in the 1990s but have evolved in different directions since then: Italy privatized its publicly-owned banks while Germany has maintained a large share of state-owned savings banks. Contemporaneously, banks in both...

This paper questions when and why state governments oppose (or support) privatization programs initiated by the central government. It examines national privatization initiatives in the 1990s in India and Brazil in the fields of electricity and banking looking at the varying responses of the...