 The Investments of the Neapolitan Public Banks: A Long Run View (1587–1806)Francesco Balletta,
Luigi Balletta and
Eduardo Nappi
Chapter Chapter 5 in Financial Innovation and Resilience, 2018, pp 95-123 from Palgrave Macmillan Abstract: Abstract We quantify the operations of deposits and investments of the public banks in Naples between the end of the seventeenth to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Drawing on the vast accounting documentation produced by the banks, we reconstruct at half yearly frequency the composition of their balance sheets as deposits (or fedi di credito, which circulated as near-money), reserves and many investment categories. The quantitative history of the banks highlights their resilience to recurrent crises. We argue that the banks found the right balance between public supervision and independence. After the crisis of 1622, they radically innovated their business model by switching to a more prudent investment policy and lending mainly against pawns. Both these facts explain their survival for over two centuries. Keywords: Modern history; Naples and southern italy; Early public banks; Banking accounting and techniques; Fedi di credito; Bank investments (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:psitcp:978-3-319-90248-7_5 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-90248-7_5 Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance from Palgrave Macmillan |
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