Liguria) and in “area 5” (Abruzzi, Molise, Puglia and Basilicata). In all the other cases, there is no precise
pattern (at least without using econometric methods) between the lender size and the level of the interest
rates. This means that there seems to be no precise link between the lenders size and their market power.
For this reason, other variables, different from the lender size are employed in the econometric analysis as
proxies for the lender’s market power, in particular, as shown in section 4.1, we employ the spread
between maximum lending rate and minimum borrower’s rate for each class size and in each geographic
area.
Lending rates to loan size class “c3” in area 1
Lending rates to loan size class “c3” in area 2
□ large and major
banks
□ average-sized
banks
□ small and minor
banks
Lending rates to loan size class “c3” in area 3
