Claudia Girardone

University of Essex · Essex Business School (EBS)

The Essex Finance Centre (EFiC) at Essex Business School and the Laboratory of Bank, Business, Finance and Ethics (BifeLab) are jointly organising the seventh edition of the EFiC Conference in Banking and Corporate Finance that will take place in person on 6-7 July 2023 in Gaeta, Italy. The objective of the Conference is to bring together leading...

Using the World Bank’s Global Findex database, we provide an exploratory analysis of the patterns of financial inclusion and the gender gap among 56 Islamic and 101 non-Islamic countries during the period 2011 to 2017. We show that financial inclusion is still relatively low in our sample, but it is particularly challenging in the sampled Islamic c...

Environmental, social, and governance risks are becoming increasingly relevant for bank regulators and stakeholders due to market developments, regulation, and social attitudes. This paper investigates the relationship between equity capital and reputational risk related to Environmental Social Governance (ESG) issues for the European Economic Area...

Using a large sample of EU non-financial firms over the period 2008-2018, this study examines the effect of the 2014 EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and finds that the Directive has led to an increase in CSR transparency and performance. Further, it shows that the association between the Directive and C...

Western allies have imposed restrictive measures on Russian banks and threatened harsher sanctions on the finance sector since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. However, this did not impede sanctioned banks reporting record profits, nor deter Russia from invading Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Although the sanctions’ full effectiveness remains in que...

This paper focuses on the impact of financial fragmentation on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) access to finance. We combine country-level data on financial fragmentation and the ECB’s SAFE (Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises) data for 12 European Union (EU) countries over 2009–2016. Our findings indicate that an increase in financ...

Financial policy changes are aimed at improving banks efficiency and competition; however, their effectiveness in the context of emerging economies is far from obvious. Using Turkey as a case study, we create a unique data set and analyse the impact of almost 30 years of financial policy changes on the cost efficiency and competitiveness of its ban...

This paper reviews the literature on corporate governance in extreme institutional environments, including both formal and informal institutions. We focus on three main areas of research: corporate governance in an international context, banking and corporate governance, and governance in entrepreneurship and innovation. We document some classic pa...

This paper investigates the joint and separate effects of Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) scores on bank stability. Using a sample of European banks operating in 21 countries over 2005–2017, we find that the total ESG score, as well as its sub-pillars, reduces bank fragility during periods of financial distress. This stabilizing e...

This paper investigates the impact of bank risk positions on their lending outcomes during quantitative easing (QE) interventions. We find that after the first and second round of QE, banks with lower default probabilities expand lending more in comparison to their risky counterparts. However, differences were no longer relevant in the third round...

The Essex Finance Centre (EFiC) at Essex Business School is organising the fifth edition of the EFiC Conference in Banking and Corporate Finance that will take place on 8-9 July 2021. The Conference is committed to providing a safe and productive setting for all participants and therefore will be held online. The objective of the Conference is to...

Manuscript Type Review Research Question/Issue There has been growing concern about rising social inequality, and its effects on general well-being and the polity. Much of this rise can be traced to changes in the manner in which corporations or firms are governed, and how this impacts on income and wealth dispersion. This study systematically rev...

In this study we explore market power in 13 euro area banking sectors for the years 2007 to 2019 by means of a structural model framework with demand and supply equations, where the mark-up of price over marginal cost is parameterized as a measure of banks’ conduct that depends on selected factors. Our evidence indicates that EU banks enjoy a signi...

The paper investigates the importance of banks’ business classification in shaping the risk profile of financial institutions on a global scale. We employ a rare-event logit model based on a state-of-the-art list of major global distress events from the global financial crisis. When clustering banks by their business strategies using a community de...

This paper explores the main forces impacting diversity and the role of women at senior management and board level in finance. In addition, it offers a synopsis of selected research examining the board composition, corporate social responsibility and external corporate governance. We focus mainly on empirical papers that employ quasi-natural experi...

This study employs bank-level data for a global sample of 125 countries to examine the relationship between capital and profitability for a period of 19 years (2000–2018) that includes both normal and crisis time. Our evidence suggests that bank capital is positively related to bank profitability, although the estimated impact is relatively weak. T...

This paper examines convergence of bank competition in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the impact of bank market power on growth. Using a sample from 16 countries over 2005−14 and forming macro-regions based on oil export allowances to capture intra-region country differences, our results suggest that banking competition has increased over...

Using the UK SMEs Finance Monitor data over 2011–2017, we explore the determinants of bank debt rejections for UK SMEs. In the wake of the global financial crisis, business overdrafts and term loans show slightly different trends although the factors affecting rejections are similar. We find that since 2014 rejection rates reduced for both faciliti...

The sovereign debt crisis in the euro area highlighted the close connections between the financial health of banks and sovereigns and was associated with higher funding costs and lower private sector credit. In this study, we analyze the dynamics of the co-movement between sovereign and bank credit default swaps (CDS) spreads over five sub-periods...

This paper examines whether and how the level of exposure to fair value accounting moderates the changes in the value relevance of equity book value and net income during a crisis period. Using a sample of European listed financial firms over 2005-2011, our analysis confirms prior literature that the value relevance of book value of equity increase...

Recent years have witnessed a global commitment to advancing financial inclusion as a key enabler for promoting equal opportunity and reducing poverty. In this paper, we use the IMF’s Financial Access Survey data and two different approaches to construct a multidimensional financial inclusion index for a global sample of 95 countries over 2004-15....

We explore the impact of financing constraints and the role of banking markets integration on the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The data are drawn from the European Central Bank/Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (ECB/SAFE) on SMEs' access to finance aggregated at the country level for the largest 11 euro area countries...

This chapter provides a background on financial inclusion and examines the progress and trends across different indicators of financial inclusion and different macro and income regions. The data show positive growth in different indicators of financial inclusion over recent years; however, the variation across regions and the gap between genders ar...

Using a detailed set of deposit insurance schemes (DIS) features for 27 EU countries, we assess the impact of national deposit insurance features on bank stability and investigate the existence of non-linearities in the relationship between coverage and bank stability both in crisis and normal times. Our results suggest that more protective DIS do...

This paper explores the interrelations between bank capital and liquidity and their impact on the market probability of default. We employ an unbalanced panel of large European banks with listed credit default swap (CDS) contracts during the period 2005–2015, which allow us to consider the impact of the recent financial crisis. Our evidence suggest...

How does competition affect the investment banking business and the risks individual institutions are exposed to? Using a large sample of investment banks operating in seven developed economies over 1997–2014, we apply a panel VAR model to examine the relationships between competition and risk without assuming any a priori restrictions. Our main fi...

Due to the vital role that SMEs play in most countries, issues relating specifically to their access to bank credit remain a key concern for both academics and practitioners. To encourage banksto extend lending to SMEs, the UK government has launched several initiatives in the aftermath of the most recent financial crisis. This chapter utilises the...

We employ a hand-collected unique dataset on banks operating in China between 2003 and 2011 to investigate the impact of board governance features (size, composition and functioning) on bank efficiency and risk taking. Our evidence suggests that board characteristics tend to have a greater influence on banks' profit and cost efficiency than on loan...

In the context of the current debate on increased integration of eurozone banking markets following the global financial and sovereign debt crises, this paper evaluates the impact of regulatory reform, starting from the inception of the Single Market in 1992, on bank productivity and assesses the cross-border benefits of integration in terms of tec...

This book showcases recent academic work on contemporary issues in financial institutions and markets. It covers a broad range of topics, highlighting the diverse nature of academic research in banking and finance. As a consequence the contributions cover a wide range of issues across a broad spectrum, including: capital structure arbitrage, credit...

This chapter begins with a brief historical perspective on the evolution of the Italian banking sector and then considers the most recent developments in the structure and performance features of the industry. It also covers key issues and concerns that have intensified in Italy particularly in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007-0...

This paper examines the competitive dynamics and multimarket characteristics of the Italian leasing industry. We employ a GMM-system estimator for dynamic panel analysis using a unique dataset over 2002-2008. Our main findings suggest that there is no evidence of tacit collusion in the Italian leasing sector thus rejecting the hypothesis that mutua...

This paper investigates the dynamics between the financial freedom counterparts of the economic freedom index drawn from the Heritage Foundation database and bank efficiency levels. We rely on a large sample of commercial banks operating in the 27 European Union member states over the 2000s. After estimating bank-specific efficiency scores using Da...

In this paper we examine the growth and convergence of total factor productivity for commercial banks operating in the eurozone, over the period 1992-2009. We utilise a parametric meta-frontier Divisia index to identify technological gaps across different eurozone banking industries, and a series of tests for productivity convergence. Our results s...

Using Greene's (2005) random parameter cost frontier model and a unique hand-collected dataset, this paper provides novel evidence on the cost advantages of Italian leasing companies over 2002–2008, focusing on ownership structures and diversification strategies. Results suggest that cost efficiency and economies of scale have decreased significant...

High interest rate spreads and low credit availability to the private sector have been persistent problems in Latin American banking in spite of the recent financial sector reforms. This paper considers the determinants of interest rate margins focusing on their relationship with structural and non-structural measures of competition and non-paramet...

This paper examines whether the stock markets price changes in operating efficiency as a result of bank mergers and if the premiums paid by the acquiring banks also reflect these changes. The sample covers mergers and acquisitions consummated in the US and Europe during the period of 1997 to 2003. Changes in cost and profit efficiency are calculate...

This article provides novel evidence on project finance loan pricing using economic and disaggregated political risk determinants. As expected, our findings suggest that the presence of loan guarantees and lower levels of aggregate political risk results in cheaper project finance loans. The evidence in support of disaggregated political risk as a...

The paper starts by highlighting a change of emphasis in the internationalisation literature from the nationality of ownership of the investor to the degree of multinationality of the company. This shift has implications for our understanding of innovation activities and their diffusion. It is in this context that the research sets out to test the...

Financial intermediation in Latin America has experienced profound changes due to financial liberalization, which also resulted in further financial deepening. The bulk of the literature on financial deepening focuses on its macroeconomic dimension and its implications for growth. In this paper, we shift our attention to its microeconomic implicati...

Diversified banks should benefit from an efficient allocation of resources, debt coinsurance and scope economies. At the same time, critics of diversification question these advantages pointing to agency problems such as managerial entrenchment and empire building that could also lead to diversification but for the 'wrong' reasons. This paper sheds...

In recent years project finance (PF) has become an increasingly popular method of funding long-term capital-intensive infrastructure projects worldwide, particularly in developing countries. The nature of modern project finance is to use limited or non-recourse syndicated loans to a special purpose vehicle (SPV), where such debt typically represent...

Investment banks’ core functions expose them to a wide array of risks. This paper analyses cost and profit efficiency for a sample of investment banks for the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) and Switzerland prior to the recent financial crisis. We follow Coelli et al. (J Prod Anal 11:251–273, 1999)’s methodology to a...

The recent financial crisis has shown that the stability of the investment banking industry plays a key role for the soundness of the financial system as a whole. Do high competition and/or cost inefficiencies increase investment banks’ insolvency (and capital) risks? Or, conversely, do investment banks’ insolvency risk and capitalization levels le...

  This paper employs a simultaneous equations approach to investigate the dynamics between financial frictions, efficiency and risk for eurozone's commercial banks. We consider two related channels through which financial frictions may arise: informational and market structure imperfections, and allow for a possible reverse causation from efficienc...

La serie de Documentos de Investigación del Banco de México divulga resultados preliminares de trabajos de investigación económica realizados en el Banco de México con la finalidad de propiciar el intercambio y debate de ideas. El contenido de los Documentos de Investigación, así como las conclusiones que de ellos se derivan, son responsabilidad ex...

A complex net of regulations permeates the financial systems of most developed and emerging economies. The various rationales emphasize the implications of fragile financial structures for social welfare, especially those that materialize when financial crises occur. Given their specialness, banks are typically more heavily regulated than nonbankin...

This paper investigates the dynamics between bank regulatory and supervisory policies associated with Basel II's three pillars and various aspects of banks' cost efficiency and performance for a sample of EU commercial banks over the period 2000-2006. We use frontier analysis and traditional accounting ratios to measure efficiency. We also use a qu...

The past two decades have been characterized by a wave of bank mergers that have reshaped both the US and the European financial systems. Specifically, the number of banks fell by almost 40 per cent in Europe and by over 45 per cent in the US between 1985 and 2003. The possibility that these bank mergers will yield efficiency gains for the consolid...

In the “Great Moderation” era, the investment banking industry in all advanced economies has benefited from the processes of liberalization, internationalization and consolidation activities. An increasing number of financial institutions have been involved in cross-border activities and in providing banking services globally. Investment banks’ mai...

On 11-12 November 2008, SUERF and Banque Centrale du Luxembourg organized a conference on Productivity in the Financial Services Sector on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg. The conference addressed three main themes: first, stylized facts on banks' productivity developments and the measurement of productivi...

This paper presents a review of the recent banking literature centred on the core themes of performance, risk and governance of financial institutions. We write this review against the backdrop of the recent financial crisis and the major changes it caused to banking sectors in many countries. Several themes emerge, but the overarching issue relate...

The relationship between competition and efficiency in the banking sectors of five EU countries is investigated using Granger-type causality test estimations. We find positive causation between market power and efficiency, whereas the causality running from efficiency to competition is weak.

We provide a characterization of the Greek banking system's efficiency and productivity under the new environment that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) participation implies. We consider cost and profit efficiency as well as productivity change of commercial banks using the nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Total Factor Pro...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the outcome of European Union (EU) deregulation and competition policies on the competitive conditions of the main EU banking markets. Design/methodology/approach – After a review of deregulation and competitition policies in the EU banking industry, the degree of competition in the largest five EU...

Contextual factors usually assume an important role in determining firms' productive efficiencies. Nevertheless, identifying them in a regression framework might be problematic. The problem arises from the efficiencies being correlated with each other, when estimated by DEA, rendering standard inference methods invalid. Simar and Wilson (2007) sugg...

Purpose This paper aims to compare the cost efficiencies across bank‐and market‐based EU countries for the different groups of commercial, savings and co‐operative banks; and between listed and non‐listed banking institutions. In addition, it attempts to determine any potential implications for bank efficiency originating from differences in financ...

Using bank level balance sheet data for commercial banks in the major EU banking markets, this paper aims to shed some light on the recent developments in competition, concentration and bank-specific efficiency levels. Furthermore, using Granger-type causality test estimations, this study investigates the relationship between competition and effici...

In this paper we consider two market power theories (the Structure-Conduct-Performance, or SCP, and Relative Market Power, RMP) and the Efficient Structure (ES) hypothesis to characterize empirically the Mexican banking industry over 1996-2003 and then use a similar framework to investigate the determinants of interest rate spreads. To our knowledg...

This paper presents a review of the recent banking literature centred on the core themes of performance, risk and governance of financial institutions. We write this review against the backdrop of the recent financial crisis and the major changes it caused to banking sectors in many countries. Several themes emerge, but the overarching issue relate...

TSince the mid-1990s the banking sector in the Latin American emerging markets has experienced profound changes due to financial liberalisation, a significant increase in foreign investments and greater mergers activities often occurring following financial crises. The wave of consolidation and the rapid increase in market concentration that took p...

Evidence of financial integration and convergence are considered of importance in assessing the outcome of EU deregulation policies aimed at improving the efficiency and performance of banking sectors. This paper evaluates the recent dynamics of bank cost efficiency by means of data envelopment analysis (DEA). Borrowing from the growth literature,...

This paper investigates the impact of alternative financial and banking structures on banks' overall efficiency. The effect of size on the estimated banking efficiency is also examined. These issues are addressed by first measuring the cost efficiencies over 1998?2003 for a sample of commercial, savings and cooperative banking institutions across b...

This chapter examines the most recent developments pertaining to the efficiency and productivity of Greek banks. In this context we discuss some of the trends characterizing the Greek banking sector since the early 1990s and review the relevant empirical evidence. The Greek banking sector has recently undergone significant transformations that resu...

The processes of financial liberalization and international integration have contributed to significant changes in the banking sectors of many developing countries. In Latin America, banking sectors have experienced an accelerated process of consolidation. Enhanced consolidation has been accompanied by a significant increase in the degree of market...

The deregulation of financial services in the European Union (EU), together with the establishment of the Economic and Monetary Union, aimed at the creation of a level playing-field in the provision of banking services across the EU. The plan was to remove entry barriers and to foster both competition and efficiency in national banking markets. How...

Recent competitive pressures have progressively driven banks to strategically focus on generating returns to shareholders. Therefore, the investigation of the determinants of bank performance and their relationship with share prices has become increasingly important. This paper extends the literature on market-based accounting to examine the relati...

The paper starts with a brief summary of theoretical perspectives on the relationship between multinationality and innovation and the move from a centralized and hierarchical perspective to a more decentralized network-based one. Four hypotheses are set up to test the relationship between multinationality and innovation, using data from the Communi...

The 1990s have witnessed a significant growth in bank income generated through non-traditional activities, especially for large EU universal banking institutions. Using the non-parametric Malmquist methodology this study analyses the impact of the inclusion of off-balance sheet (OBS) business in the definition of banks' output when estimating total...

This paper examines cost and profit efficiency of large banking firms by defining a common European frontier over the period immediately following the completion of the Single Market Programme in 1992. Despite a slight increase in cost efficiency, country-specific characteristics appear to play important roles in the explanation of cost efficiency...

This paper compares parametric and non-parametric estimates of productivity change in European banking between 1994 and 2000. Productivity change has also been further decomposed into technological change, or change in best practice, and efficiency change. Both the parametric and non-parametric approaches consistently identify those systems that ha...

The 1990s have witnessed a significant growth in bank income generated through non-traditional activities especially for large EU universal institutions. Using the non-parametric Malmquist methodology this paper analyses the importance of the inclusion of off-balance sheet (OBS) business in the definition of banks output when estimating total facto...

Consolidation in the global banking industry has resulted in the emergence of financial conglomerates that conduct an extensive range of businesses with a group structure. To date, few studies have investigated the performance features of such groups. This study aims to extend the literature by evaluating the cost and profit efficiency and producti...

This study investigates the main determinants of Italian banks' cost efficiency over the period 1993-1996, by employing a Fourier-flexible stochastic cost frontier in order to measure X-efficiencies and economies of scale. Quality and riskiness of bank outputs are explicitly accounted for in the cost function and their impact on cost efficiency lev...

Outlines previous research on the efficiency of the Italian banking system, describes the structure of Italian banking groups and uses parametric (stochastic cost frontier) and non-parametric (data envelopment analysis) approaches to assess the efficiency of Italian bank conglomerates in 1995 compared with the parent companies and subsidiearies. Ex...