This paper studies the decision of lead investment banks to organize hybrid syndicates (commercial banks participating as co-managers) versus pure investment bank syndicates. The findings show that hybrid underwriting issues are more challenging to float. Compared to pure investment bank...

A persistent paradox in stochastic frontier efficiency research is that we cannot compare the X-efficiency of firms without assuming these firms to operate under a common frontier. In this paper, we address this imbalance by constructing so-called meta-frontiers. Specifically, we build on recent...

Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest concentration of bank-customer relationships. The present paper seeks to find out whether this can be explained by the structure of Swiss firms or by the organization of the Swiss banking market. Using survey data from small and medium-sized...

Adopting a continuous-time portfolio framework with endogenous financial intermediation, this paper analyzes diversification in bank lending. First, an increase in the number of independent credits in a loan portfolio is shown to enhance intermediation activities. This supports the hypothesis of...

This paper analyzes the pass-through of money market rates to retail interest rates in the Belgian banking market using disaggregate data and allowing for heterogeneous price setting behavior. We find that 1) corporate loans are priced more competitively than consumer loans, 2) pass-through is...

In our paper we have tried to present the literature describing methods for decomposing measures of concentration and diversification, as well as tried to explain reasons for the changes in the level of concentration and diversification in the sector of Polish commercial banks in 1996-2005. When...

With the realisation of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), there will be no difference in the euro area between national and cross-border retail payments. SEPA is aimed at fostering competition and innovation, and improving conditions for customers. This requires concerted efforts from...

While the positive growth effects of financial integration are extensively documented, little is known of its impact on small and young firms. This paper aims to fill this void relying on a panel of 60,000 firm-year observations on listed and unlisted companies in Eastern European economies to...

This paper examines the effects of bank relationships on underwriter choice in the Japanese corporate-bond market following the 1993 deregulation. Bank relationships have significant positive effects on a firm's underwriter choice. Relationship firms receive a small but significant fee discount...

The objective of this paper is to examine the nature of the Taiwanese banking sector and to analyze the impact of financial liberalization on the Taiwanese banking industry. We present empirical evidence to show that the recent wave of bank mergers observed in other countries is also suitable...