Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/97512 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IAT Discussion Paper No. 14/01
Publisher: 
Institut Arbeit und Technik (IAT), Gelsenkirchen
Abstract: 
We are calling for comparisons of banking and banking systems from a spatial perspective. Therefore, this paper develops a classification identifying decentralized and centralized banking according to two characteristics: geographical market orientation (regional vs. supraregional) – to determine whether banks facilitate regional savings-investment cycles – and place of decision-making (proximity vs. distance) – to identify whether the flow of soft information is supported in SME lending. The degree of banks’ centralization is also approximated by the spatial concentration of bank employees and shows remarkable explanatory power in Germany, as de-centralized banks increase lending at the expense of centralized banks.
Subjects: 
comparing banking systems
SME finance in Germany
savings and cooperative banks
decentralized vs. centralized banking
JEL: 
G21
P51
R51
O16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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