Banking diversity and firms’ exit: A study on Italian data

Giuseppina Damiana Costanzo, Marianna Succurro and Francesco Trivieri ()
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Giuseppina Damiana Costanzo: University of Calabria
Marianna Succurro: University of Calabria
Francesco Trivieri: University of Calabria

Journal of Evolutionary Economics, 2023, vol. 33, issue 5, No 6, 1537-1570

Abstract: Abstract With Italian data, this paper investigates the role of institutional banking diversity on firms’ exit. Using the Gini–Simpson index, a measure of biodiversity drawn from ecological sciences, we find that banking diversity would have reduced firms’ exit rates in the period under investigation (2009–2020), and such a beneficial effect appears sharper for the years of the last financial–sovereign crisis. Both of these findings seem to support the “biodiversity argument” pioneered by Ayadi et al. (2009, 2010), stating that – beyond the merits of any particular bank institutional model – it is indeed the coexistence of a mix of different credit institutions that matters in favouring the financing of the real economy, especially in a scenario characterized by financial turmoil and uncertainty. As a policy recommendation, authorities should promote regulations that, avoiding bias towards a specific bank model, aim to preserve and promote biodiversity in the banking sector.

Keywords: Banking diversity; Gini index; Firm exit; Financial crisis; COVID-19 pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G20 G21 L60 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s00191-023-00836-4

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