Martedì, 15 Gennaio, ore 15.00-17.00 (Sala del Consiglio)

Olivier Karl Butzbach - Università degli Studi della Campania, Luigi Vanvitelli (Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche Jean Monnet)

"Diversity in banking: why it matters and how to measure it"

Abstract

In the immediate aftermath of the 2007-08 global financial crisis, diversity in banking and the lack thereof briefly became a major concern of policy-makers and scholars alike. In particular, low degrees of diversity were associated with higher levels of systemic risk. In addition, a banking system where not-for-profit banks coexist and compete with for-profit ones may perform better across a broad range of indicators.

Despite the rapid waning of policy-makers’ interest in banking diversity, the latter remains a key issue for the development and stability of financial systems across the world. Yet it is still very much an uncharted territory. In particular, there is no agreement on the definition and the measurement of banking diversity - even though some progress towards that end has been made in the few recent years.

The aim of this seminar is thus precisely to take stock of this literature and to present ongoing research geared to make advances in the understanding of banking diversity, its causes and effects, and in the measurement of the phenomenon.