EMU: some unanswered questions



structures will tend to vanish. In table 1, it can be seen that the degree of bank concentration
in European countries is converging to similar values. Other relevant factor, is the reduction
of the need of having a vast and extensive network of bank offices in the territories where the
financial agents wants to operate. Thanks to new information technologies and to the increase
of competition between regional and non-regional financial institutions, there is a clear
incentive to operate in the greatest number of territories as marginal costs are continuously
decreasing.

Table 1. Bank concentration at a national level: Deposits of the five most important financial
entities as a percentage of total financial deposits

1985

1990

1995

1997

Belgium

480

48,0

54,0

57,0

Denmark

13,9

16,7

16,7

Spain

38,1

34,9

45,6

43,6

France

46,0

42,5

41,3

40,3

Ireland

47,5

44,2

44,4

40,7

Italy

20,9

19,1

26,1

24,6

Luxembourg

21,2

22,4

Netherlands

69,3

73,4

76,1

79,4

Austria

35,9

34,6

39,2

48,3

Portugal

61,0

58,0

74,0

76,0

Finland

51,7

53,5

68,6

77,8

Source: ECB (1999)

Taking into account the previous exposition, if we want to evaluate the existence of
differences in regional responses to monetary policy, we should consider information about
three different aspects: the industry-mix, the firm size and the financial structure. However,
the most important are the two first as it seems quite plausible that regional differences in
financial structures will tend to disappear (or at least reduce) in a near future. For this reason,
the methodology that we propose to analyse the different impact of monetary policy will only
consider the two first determinants.

11



More intriguing information

1. The name is absent
2. The name is absent
3. Altruism and fairness in a public pension system
4. ESTIMATION OF EFFICIENT REGRESSION MODELS FOR APPLIED AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS RESEARCH
5. Inflation Targeting and Nonlinear Policy Rules: The Case of Asymmetric Preferences (new title: The Fed's monetary policy rule and U.S. inflation: The case of asymmetric preferences)
6. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING SOCIAL WELFARE EFFECTS OF NEW AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
7. BEN CHOI & YANBING CHEN
8. The name is absent
9. The name is absent
10. The name is absent