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Working Paper
Banking relationships in Germany: empirical results and policy implications
Expanding the range of activities by banks and other financial intermediaries has attracted much attention in the 1990s. Proponents of universal banking point to the benefits of German system of finance. Germany is the prototypical economy where universal banks, which offer a wide-range of financial services, allegedly exert substantial influence over firms and generate beneficial effects for the economy-wide allocation of credit. Arguments for replacing the specialized banking system currently in place in the United States with a universal banking system rely on a favorable evaluation of the ...
Working Paper
Conflict of interest between borrowers and lenders in credit co- operatives: the case of German co-operative banks
Over the last few decades, the co-operative banking sector in Germany has steadily increased its market share at the expense of other types of banks. This outcome is surprising from the standpoint of traditional economic thinking about co-operatives, which suggests that they are most appropriate for "backward" economies. We develop a model of co-operative banks that highlights the dual role ofmembers as borrowers and lenders. We show that a shift in the median (hence pivotal) member of the co-operative from predominantly a borrower orientation toward a lender orientation causes the ...
Journal Article
Why banks need commerce powers
Conference Paper
Banks and corporate finance in Germany
Conference Paper
Bank regulation and structure: an international overview