Using a sample of 495 Latin American banks over the period 2001-2008, this paper investigates how bank concentration influences cost and profit efficiency. We calculate scale efficiency to assess whether these banks are close to their optimal size. We find that banks are more inefficient in...

This paper employs a general equilibrium approach to model the Brazilian financial system. We show that the model is able to replicate the main characteristics of the data and to predict short-term trends. The model is calibrated for the 2002-2006 period. Empirical results suggest that the...

This paper tests whether diversification of the credit portfolio at the bank level is associated to better performance and lower risk. We employ a new high frequency (monthly) panel data constructed for the Brazilian banking system with information at the bank level for loans by economic sector....

Several specialists and authorities blame inflation targeting (IT) regime for not responding to the increasing systemic risk and the development of asset bubbles. Nevertheless, we employ a database with commercial banks from 71 countries between 1998 and 2012, and we present evidence that: banks...

The objective of this article is to discuss a new approach to control for the environment when one estimates efficiency by the stochastic frontier model. By introducing geographical weights and estimating local frontiers for each US saving bank for 2001-09, we find that bank technical...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the Brazilian interbank network structure. The Brazilian interbank market clearly presents a topology that is compatible to the free-scale networks. This market is characterized by money centers, which have exposures to many banks and are the most...

In this work we measure the evolution of the long-range dependence phenomenon of returns and volatilities of nominal British exchange rates (British pound against US dollar) futures contracts negotiated on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from 1986 to 2004. The measurement employs the R/S classic...

Recent literature has focused on the study of systemic risk in complex networks. It is clear now, after the crisis of 2008, that the aggregate behavior of the interaction among agents is not straightforward and it is very difficult to predict. Contributing to this debate, this paper shows that...