| The Changing Geography of Banking | ||
| Ancona, September 22-23 (*), 2006 | ||
| A conference organized by the Department of Economics - University of Ancona and co-sponsored by The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research The Bank of Italy The Italian Banking Association (ABI) Banca Popolare di Ancona The Review of Finance | ||
| Objectives Two contrasting trends have emerged from the intense integration and consolidation processes that have swept the European and U.S. banking industry in the 1990s: (i) the geographical diffusion of banking structures and instruments and (ii) the geographical concentration of banking power in few centres within each country. The first occurred through the lifting of geographical restrictions on banking activity, the opening of new branches and the expansion of impersonal methods to conduct business, such as internet-banking, home-banking or phone-banking, that all contributed to greatly reduce the operational distance between banks and local communities. The second was the mechanical consequence of the many mergers and acquisitions which have shrunk the number of banks, leading to the creation of large multi-bank holding companies. This, in turn, has brought about the geographical concentration of decisional centres and strategic functions of banks, which has greatly increased the functional distance between banks and local communities. The aim of this conference is to investigate theoretically and empirically the effects that operational and functional distances from communities may exert on banks’ lending decisions, efficiency and profitability and on local economic development. Areas of interest include the following: | ||
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