Even today, contractual saving for housing (CSH) through building societies (\textit{Bausparkassen}) is one of the major sources for housing financing in several countries in Continental Europe. The origins of CSH can be traced back to 1920s Germany. In this time, a weak and financially...

Italy exhibits a very divided economy with an economic powerhouse in its northern regions and an economically less developed South. At the same time, the North of Italy is also characterized by a historically decentralized financial system with small and local banks that fit to the SMEs of the...

Financial integration is seen as a major driver of economic growth and wealth. Its effects on income inequality have been analyzed for the bank branch deregulation in the U.S. and foreign bank entry in India. Another prominent example of financial integration and liberalization, so far, has been...

After the financial crisis, the public perception of capital markets changed from means of an efficient capital allocation to being an irresponsible institution that endangers the stability of the economy. Seemingly, only the state can prevent such negative outcomes through increasing regulation...

Capital requirements are key elements in banking regulation. As the failure of a systemically important institution poses a risk to the whole economy, they have to meet special regulations. Our research uses a unique data set to show the influence of economic factors on the capital buffer...

Besides the often mentioned driving factors behind inequality like globalization, demography, technological progress, or the different accumulation of human capital financial development and the structure of the financial sector were long overlooked. Furthermore, the economic analysis of income...