The objective of this study is to examine the causes of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the banking system of the euro area for the period 2003-2013 and distinguish between core and periphery country determinants. The increase in NPLs post crisis has put into question the robustness of many...

We find evidence that banks target return on equity (RoE) and make active use of leverage to affect the speed of adjustment towards RoE targets. That holds for both the pre- and post-2007 periods and especially for banks that tend to operate with above median leverage among their peer group. As...

Consolidation in euro area banking has been the major trend post-crisis. Has it been accompanied by more or less competition? Has it led to more or less credit risk? In all or some countries? In this study, we examine the evolution of competition (through market power and concentration) and...

In the years after the financial crisis low bank profitability has been a major issue. The increased regulation imposed in the wake of the crisis has often been accused of overburdening banks and contributing to low profitability. The euro area, consisting of 19 different economies, made a big...

The aim of this paper is to improve our understanding of the empirical determinants of firm growth by extending the literature to include a new group of variables related to foreign direct investment (FDI), namely the degree of foreign ownership and technology spillovers. Based on recent...

This paper adopts a mean-variance portfolio framework to model the balance sheet behavior of unquoted companies with respect to choice items such as fixed investment, investment in stocks, trade credit, and borrowing. Econometric results for a sample of thirty-nine U.K. firms are consistent with...