Two contrasting trends have emerged from the intense integration and consolidation process that have swept the European and U.S. banking industry in the 1990s: the geographical diffusion of banking structures and instruments and the geographical concentration of banking power in a few financial centers within each country. The first trend has contributed to greatly reduce the operational distance that separates banks from their clientele. The second has increased the functional distance that separates the bank's decision center from its operational branches. The conflicting movements in operational and functional distances have left a mark on market structure, financial integration and regulation of the banking industry, and have induced a transformation in organizational structures, lending behavior and relationships between banks and firms. This book, not only surveys the great research effort that has been made recently on the geography of banking and finance, but also provides new insights and empirical evidence on how the geography of banking and finance has evolved and impacted its customers.

This is a timely and valuable volume that collects up-to-date empirical research on the geography of the banking industry and financial centers.

Allen N. Berger H. Montague Osteen, Jr. Professor in Banking and Finance Moore School of Business University of South Carolina, USA

The geography of banking has changed dramatically in recent years, under the combined effect of new information technology, deregulation and international integration. This book assesses thoroughly what we know and what we don't know yet about this process and about its effects on the provision of credit to households and firms (especially small and medium ones). It is going to be a valuable reference on the evolution of the banking industry for years to come.

Marco Pagano Professor of Economics University ofNaples Federico II, Italy

The subdiscipline concerned with the geography of banking is a relatively new one, and the research frontier is still largely unexplored. This book makes a timely and valuable contribution to opening up this territory; providing intriguing insight into how new information technologies, financial innovation, de- and re-regulation, and globalisation processes more generally, are reshaping not only the geographies of banking itself, but also the spatialities of credit provision, financial flows and monetary circulation. An essential read for financial economists, economic geographers and all those interested in the world of finance.

Ron Martin Professor of Economic Geography University of Cambridge, UK

Auteur

Pietro Alessandrini is Professor of Monetary Economics and European Monetary Policy at Università Politecncia delle Marche in Ancona, Italy. He is one of the founders of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti of the Società Italiana degli Economisti, of which he was Vice-President (1998-2001). He is on the Editorial Board of Economia Marche Review of Regional Studies, Q.A. La Questiona Agraria, Sviluppo Locale, and il Ponte. He is also President of the scientific committee of MIF-ISTAO. He has published on banking, financial systems, and international economics. See www.dea.unian.it/alessandrini/

Michele Fratiani is the CIBER Eminent Faculty Fellow at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, and Professor of Economics at the Università Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, Italy. He is a Founding Editor of Open Economies Review (Springer) and is on the Editorial Board of the North-American Journal of Economics and Finance, Review of International Organizations (Springer), and Review of Economic Conditions in Italy. He is also a series editor of European and Transatlantic Studies (Springer). He has published on monetary economics, international finance, and monetary and financial history. See www.bus.indiana.edu/fratianni/

Alberto Zazzaro is Professor of Economics at Università Politecnica delle Marche, a Research Associate with Labis (Ancona, Italy), and CFEPSR (Portici, Itlay), the General Secretary of the Società Italiana deglie Economisti, and the Managing Editor of the Rivista Italiana degli Economisti. He has published on banking, corporate governance, industrial organization, theory of money, and economic growth. See www.dea.unian.it/zazzaro/

Résumé

The editors and contributors tackle a timely subject, and present rigorous research and analysis to demonstrate counter-intuitive results. In so doing, they reinforce the connections between organization and policy in the banking industry and its impact on entrepreneurship, through lending and credit to small and medium-sized businesses. The editors present a carefully organized manuscript that presents both literature reviews and the results of original empirical research that will be of interest to academics and professionals in finance, economics, and policy. The authorship and coverage are global. One of the authors, Michele Fratiani, has close ties to Springer, by virtue of his being a founding editor of Open Economies Review and co-editor of the book series, European and Transatlantic Studies.

Contenu
Distance and Banks' Organization.- The Changing Geography of Banking and Finance: The Main Issues.- Financial Innovation, Organizations, and Small Business Lending.- Does Distance Matter in Banking?.- Distance, Bank Organizational Structure, and Lending Decisions.- Geographical Organization of Banking Systems and Innovation Diffusion.- Distance and Internet Banking.- Borders and Market Structure.- Bank Market Structure, Competition, and Stability: Issues and Concepts.- Bank Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions: Causes, Consequences, and Recent Trends.- What Are Borders Made of? An Analysis of Barriers to European Banking Integration.- Regulatory Framework and Financial Centers.- Designing a Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Integrated Financial Markets.- Crisis Management and Lender of Last Resort in the European Banking Market.- The Evolutionary Chain of International Financial Centers.- Financial Centers Between Centralization and Virtualization.