Research essays in banking and finance

Abstract

[…] The present doctoral thesis aims to analyze different aspects of the operation of banks within the modern complex financial system from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. In particular, the issues of bank performance captured by several alternative measures which are obtained either with parametric or non-parametric techniques are taken up in Chapters II-IV of the current thesis. Chapter V then examines the effects of the industry structure on the lending behavior of banks as well as on their incentives to invest in screening technology that largely contributes to the alleviation of the information problems, which are inherent in the operation of credit markets. Finally, Chapter VI draws the conclusions of the thesis offering some insights for further research. […]