Banks, local credit markets and credit supply

The volume collects the papers presented at the Conference on "Banks, Local Credit Markets and Credit Supply" held in Milan, on 24 March 2010. The papers presented at the two sessions of the Conference analyse how banks' lending activities are organized and how this affects the supply of credit to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The first session focuses on new lending technologies and banking organization. The second session studies how these organizational variables affect the lending activity to SMEs. The papers draw on the results of a sample survey of more than 300 Italian banks conducted by the Bank of Italy in 2007.banking organization, credit scoring, relationship lending, soft information

The Mezzogiorno and Italian economic policy

The volume brings together the papers presented at the Conference on "The Mezzogiorno and Italian economic policy " held in Rome on 26 November, 2009. The analysis focuses on social capital, the difficulties that businesses face in working in the South, the role of the financial system, the effectiveness of aid to enterprises, the role of public finance and regional development policies. Particular attention is devoted to assessing the quality of important public services: education, health, civil justice and local public services, with a preface by Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic.Mezzogiorno, regional policies, cohesion

The Mezzogiorno and regional policies

The book brings together a series of research papers presented at the conference on "The Mezzogiorno and regional policies", held in Perugia on 26-27 February 2009. The analyses refer to various aspects of the regional economies: wages, bargaining and prices; environmental diseconomies; public capital and competitiveness; disparities in European regions and other countries' experiences; households' financial choices and the difficulties firms face in the South of Italy; and regional policies and federalism. Together with other research, some of the analyses contained in the book provided basic material for the conference on "The Mezzogiorno and economic policy in Italy" (Rome, 26 November 2009).Mezzogiorno, regional policies, cohesion