This paper examines the fundamental relationship between retail payments and the real economy. Using data from across 27 European markets over the period 1995-2009, the results confirm that migration to efficient electronic retail payments stimulates the overall economy, consumption and trade....

This paper investigates whether European banks have capital targets and how deviations from the target impact their equity composition and activity mix. Using quarterly data for a sample of large European banks between 2004 and 2011, we show that there are notable asymmetries in banks' reactions...

We develop a model where banks invest in reserves and loans, and trade loans on the interbank market to deal with liquidity shocks. Two types of equilibria emerge, depending on the degree of credit market competition and the level of aggregate liquidity risk. In one equilibrium, all banks keep...

In January 2007 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published, on an ad hoc basis, a series of financial soundness indicators (FSIs) based on a common methodology (the IMF compilation Guide) for 62 countries, including all 27 European Union countries. The European Central Bank (ECB), jointly...

We study the impact of increasingly negative central bank policy rates on banks' propensity to become undercapitalized in a financial crisis (`SRisk'). We find that the risk impact of negative rates depends on banks' business models: Large banks with diversified income streams are perceived as...

This paper examines whether banks' liquidity and maturity mismatch decisions are affected by the choices of competitors and the impact of these coordinated funding liquidity policies on financial stability. Using a novel identification strategy where interactions are structured through decision...

Financial networks are an important source of systemic risk, but often only partial network information is available. In this paper, we use data on bank-firm credit relationships in Japan and conduct a horse race between different network reconstruction methods in terms of their ability to...

Microfinance is an emerging concept which is improving the socioeconomic status of customers. This study assesses customer satisfaction of clients of Islamic and conventional microfinance providers using a sample of 578 clients i.e. 289 from each side. Akhuwat and Kashf (Islamic microfinance)...

This study sought to estimate the level of technical efficiency and total factor productivity of RCBs in Ghana using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). The total factor productivity (TFP) was decomposed into efficiency change and technical change over the study period. Quarterly data spanning...

On the road to the new landscape in EU banking brought on by the financial crisis we assess the relationship between the level of competitiveness and efficiency. We estimate X-inefficiency for a sample of banks operating in the European Union using the stochastic frontier approach. We relate...