German Banking Structure, Pricing and Competition
Implications and International Policy Perspectives
©2009
Thesis
XII,
236 Pages
Summary
The German banking system is characterized by high fragmentation, low profitability and low foreign ownership. Main reason for this is its particular structure that can best be described as forced segmentation. This structure produces local banking markets. The book argues that local bank competition is not as pronounced as national concentration ratios predict and presents a bank pricing study which indicates that local banks, banks located in less densely populated areas and less productive banks tend to charge higher prices for retail bank services than banks that operate nationally. These results as well as lessons drawn from international reforms suggest that the German banking system could benefit from cross-pillar consolidation which promises to export competition from the national to local banking markets. Last but not least, the book analyzes political economy implications of banking reforms and provides suggestions on status quo resolution by identifying ways to facilitate reform implementation in the German banking system.
Details
- Pages
- XII, 236
- Publication Year
- 2009
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9783631590225
- Language
- English
- Keywords
- Banks Baning System Financial System Political Economy
- Published
- Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2009. XII, 236 pp., num. tables and graphs
- Product Safety
- Peter Lang Group AG