Testing for Competition Among German Banks

Given the marked reduction in the number of banks in Germany during recent years, the study estimates competitive behavior in the German banking system by applying an empirical method developed by Panzar and Rosse (1987). By estimating the banks' reduced form revenue functions, the sums of their estimated factor price elasticities which constitute the so called H-statistics provide information about banks' competitive behavior. Based on the micro data of banks? balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the years 1993-1998, the hypotheses of perfect collusion as well as of perfect competition can be rejected by means of panel-econometric estimations. For individual categories of banks significant differences were found with respect to savings banks and cooperative banks, on the one hand, and credit banks, on the other, as well as for several size categories. However, despite the decrease in the number of banks in Germany during the investigated period and a slight increase in concentration during that time, there are no clear indications of a different competitive behavior in the second half of the time period under investigation. --

Die deutsche Wachstumsschwäche: Liegt die Ursache beim Finanzmarkt?

Eine Studie von Goldman/Sachs setzt sich mit den Ursachen der deutschen Wachstumsschwäche auseinander. Sie wartet dabei mit einer Erklärung auf, die in der wirtschaftspolitischen Öffentlichkeit starke Beachtung gefunden hat . Danach läge das Kernproblem der deutschen Volkswirtschaft nicht – wie fast durchweg vermutet – auf den möglicherweise überregulierten Arbeitsmärkten, sondern auf dem deutschen Finanz- bzw. Bankenmarkt. Ist diese These stichhaltig

Testing for Competition Among German Banks

Given the marked reduction in the number of banks in Germany during recent years, the study estimates competitive behavior in the German banking system by applying an empirical method developed by Panzar and Rosse (1987). By estimating the banks' reduced form revenue functions, the sums of their estimated factor price elasticities which constitute the so called H-statistics provide information about banks' competitive behavior. Based on the micro data of banks? balance sheets and profit and loss accounts for the years 1993-1998, the hypotheses of perfect collusion as well as of perfect competition can be rejected by means of panel-econometric estimations. For individual categories of banks significant differences were found with respect to savings banks and cooperative banks, on the one hand, and credit banks, on the other, as well as for several size categories. However, despite the decrease in the number of banks in Germany during the investigated period and a slight increase in concentration during that time, there are no clear indications of a different competitive behavior in the second half of the time period under investigation

Die deutsche Wachstumsschwäche: Liegt die Ursache beim Finanzmarkt?

Eine Studie von Goldman/Sachs setzt sich mit den Ursachen der deutschen Wachstumsschwäche auseinander. Sie wartet dabei mit einer Erklärung auf, die in der wirtschaftspolitischen Öffentlichkeit starke Beachtung gefunden hat . Danach läge das Kernproblem der deutschen Volkswirtschaft nicht – wie fast durchweg vermutet – auf den möglicherweise überregulierten Arbeitsmärkten, sondern auf dem deutschen Finanz- bzw. Bankenmarkt. Ist diese These stichhaltig? --

The euro area bank lending survey: Role, development and usein monetary policy preparation

The euro area bank lending survey (BLS) serves as an important tool in the analysis of bank lending conditions in the euro area and across euro area countries, providing otherwise unobservable qualitative information on bank loan demand and supply from/to euro area enterprises and households. Since its introduction in 2003, the BLS has received growing attention and has become of key importance for the analysis and assessment of bank lending conditions in the euro area and at the national level. In particular in the context of the financial crisis, the BLS was used to gather additional information on the impact of the crisis and of the ECB’s monetary policy measures on banks’ funding situation and bank lending conditions. Following a description of the design and development of the BLS, this paper focuses on the analysis of bank lending supply and demand in the euro area and on their contributing factors. The results of the BLS are put into a wider economic perspective by relating them to other macroeconomic and financial variables. Analyses based on individual bank replies complement the picture further by providing more granular evidence on loan developments. In addition, an overview of the use of the euro area BLS as an analytical tool for investigating bank lending conditions in the euro area is presented