Our aim is to empirically assess differences in behaviour and performance of European cooperative and commercial banks in a low interest rate environment. We employ dynamic panel data methods to assess the relative performance of both ownership structures based on a data set of nearly 1,000...

What determines the development of rural financial markets? Starting from a simple theoretical framework, we derive the factors shaping the market entry of rural microfinance institutions across time and space. We provide empirical evidence for these determinants using the expansion of credit...

This article investigates the impact of the socioreligious segregation of Dutch society on the asset allocation choices of rural bankers and the withdrawal behavior of their depositors during the early 1920s. Results suggest that cooperatively-owned Raiffeisen banks for both Catholic and...

Czech credit unions have been yet criticized by both academics and regulatory representatives for its business based on moral hazard and excessive risk taking. This paper empirically assesses financial performance of Czech credit unions in relation with other European cooperative banks in terms...

The structural diversity of the German banking market and the associated variety of business models is thought to have been an important factor in the stability of the German banking market in recent decades. This diversity is manifested both in the three-pillar structure of the German banking...

The contribution of institutionally diversified financial sectors to more sustainable growth and financial stability-in particular the role of effective local banking structures—is not always fully appreciated, whether in the context of development cooperation or in policy discussions in the...

The financial crisis has highlighted the necessity of discussions on the adequacy of banking regulation and accounting standard-setting for financial institutions. We compare the development of several variables in this context between commercial banks, cooperative banks and savings banks from...

The history of the German cooperative banks has enjoyed renewed attention in recent years. This applies specifically to the current cen-tral cooperative bank, DZ BANK, whose origin lies in the Prussian Central Cooperative Bank (‹Preußenkasse›) founded in 1895. What previous research has in...

Cooperatively-owned Raiffeisen banks first emerged in the Netherlands in the late 1890s and spread rapidly across the country. Using a new dataset, we investigate the determinants of their market entry and early performance. We find that the cooperative organisational form, when allied to a...

When looking at the Spanish banking market through a German lens, the differences between the banking markets in these countries and between decentralised and centralised systems with regard to the SME ]credit decision ]making process become obvious. Despite our hypotheses that Spanish savings...