Published in:Financial Accounts: History, Methods, the Case of Italy & International Comparisons Conference, p. 365, 2005
Extent:
1 Online-Ressource (27 p)
Language:
English
DOI:
10.2139/ssrn.2160439
Identifier:
Origination:
Footnote:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments December 1, 2005 erstellt
Description:
This paper provides a quantitative assessment of whether or not the financial structures of Europe have converged in the wake of the institution of the Economic and Monetary Union and of the euro area. Starting with a broad selection of financial indicators, multidimensional data analysis techniques are used to derive a small set of composite indicators, synthesizing the evolution of national financial structures over time. Three main indicators are obtained, summarizing respectively the overall level of financial deepening, the relative weight of the banking sector and the influence of the government borrowing requirement. In general, albeit allowing for the limitations due to the shortness of the time period considered, the hypothesis of a progressive convergence of the structure of the financial systems of the EU countries appears to be broadly in line with the empirical evidence documented in the paper