Search results for "Financial intermediary"
showing 10 items of 14 documents
Financial Intermediation in Modern Europe Time: Evidence from Romania
2018
In a world governed by complex financial and economic systems, knowing the process of financial intermediation becomes a must. We face times when the process of financial intermediation seems to change nearly as a natural phenomenon. Financial intermediation stakeholders find constantly new ways to interact on behalf of obtaining funds they need and returns they expect and manage risks they try to avoid. The article’s aim is to take a snapshot of a financial intermediation process that manifests in Europe Modern Era, specifically in one EU member like Romania, in contrast with other two EU member – Bulgaria and Croatia. In the same time, we also outline the relation between financial develo…
Law of Finance: Evidence from Finland
2003
Although it is widely acknowledged that the benefits of corporate governance reform could be substantial, systematic evidence on such reforms is scant. We both document and evaluate a contemporary corporate governance reform by constructing 18 measures of shareholder and creditor protection for Finland for the period 1980-2000. The measures reveal that shareholder protection has been strengthened whereas creditor protection has been weakened. We also demonstrate how the reform is consistent with a reorganisation of the Finnish financial market in which a bank-centred financial system shifted from relationship-based debt finance towards increasing dominance by the stock market. We find evide…
Saving banks and society: a model of commitment to society
2012
Savings banks are increasingly interested in social issues, reflecting a corporate commitment to meet the demands of society. Our goal is to understand the importance of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) for savings banks and the actions carried out to promote it. To do this we assume that these entities are more resources devoted to society. The field work was conducted through a questionnaire answered by 57 Spanish institutions. We note that CSR is a growing movement with enormous potential, because of the role of financial intermediation and lending banks to develop. Finally, it is curious to see how social contributions materialize so correlated. Las Cajas de Ahorros tienen cada vez…
Life-cycle effects in small business finance
2017
This paper studies the life-cycle profiles of small firms’ cost and use of credit using a panel of Finnish firms. The choice of method matters for the conclusions drawn about the relationship between firm age and financing costs; the cross-sectional age profiles of financing costs are hump-shaped and consistent with hold-up theories, whereas methods that control for cohort fixed effects demonstrate that the financing costs decrease monotonically as the firms mature. The life-cycle profiles of the use of credit also indicate that firms are more dependent on financial intermediaries in the early periods of their lives. Furthermore, the cohorts born during recessions pay higher financing costs…
The network of global corporate control.
2011
The structure of the control network of transnational corporations affects global market competition and financial stability. So far, only small national samples were studied and there was no appropriate methodology to assess control globally. We present the first investigation of the architecture of the international ownership network, along with the computation of the control held by each global player. We find that transnational corporations form a giant bow-tie structure and that a large portion of control flows to a small tightly-knit core of financial institutions. This core can be seen as an economic “super-entity” that raises new important issues both for researchers and policy make…
Income structure, profitability and risk in the European banking sector: The impact of the crisis
2017
This study sets out to analyse whether the effect of the income structure on the risk and profitability of European banks has changed as a result of the crisis and if it varies according to banks’ specialisation in a particular type of banking business. To do so, it estimates the income structure over the period 2002–2012 using data for a panel of European banks. The study also examines if there are differences between investment-oriented banks and banks specialising in financial intermediation in terms of the effect of income structure on risk and profitability. Our findings show that an increase in the share of non-interest income has a negative impact on profitability, although the effec…
GOVERNANCE-BASED ACQUISITIONS AND RISK TAKING IN BANKING
2008
We examine the market for corporate control in banking when strategic acquisitions are driven by the different governance structures of commercial and savings banks. In contrast to profit-maximizing entities, we show that savings institutions can have acquisition incentives from their peculiar governance and ownership structure. Governance-based acquisition incentives, which interact with the specifics of the loan market in affecting bank risk taking, can arise when acquisitions take place sequentially or simultaneously, and also when financial intermediaries affect risk taking directly through the target return of investments or indirectly through the loan interest rate.
You Cannot Save Alone - Financial and Social Mobilization in Savings and Credit Groups
2007
Savings and credit groups are becoming increasingly popular, both as a cost-efficient alternative to mainstream microfinance and as a mean to mobilize people around individual and common challenges. Whether donors should promote and support Self Help Microfinance Groups that confine themselves to financial intermediation only - the specialist, or minimalist approach - or if they should support those pursuing a more integrated approach and incorporate a broader set of activities, is increasingly being debated. The study proposes a framework to better analyze and understand the different group-models, their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, the study outlines how social and financial…
Access to Finance: Baltic Financial Markets
2014
Abstract Access to finance is considered one of the main obstacles to successful financial market development. Access to finance was second-ranked most pressing problem faced by companies in the Euro Area and one of the main barriers to company's innovation capacity. The study results highlight the need to recognize that countries require sound and well-functioning financial markets. Only in this case financial markets can provide much needed sources of investments such as sound banking loans, properly regulated securities exchanges, venture capital, and other resources.
The impact of the financial crisis on financial integration, growth and investment
2012
Financial crises, and in particular those of the past few years, have severe consequences for the affected economies. In this paper we analyse the impact of financial development and European financial integration on growth and we find no reversal of the growth benefits of financial development and integration in recent years. This highlights the economic cost of regulatory changes that would reverse European financial integration. We also find that, following a financial crisis, investment declines more in countries with a greater degree of uncertainty aversion, which can be informative for evaluating post-crisis economic performance.