Abstract
In this paper I analyze the specificity of the workings of capital markets, and in particular the behavior of the banking system in the Italian Mezzogiorno. As is well known, the South is the least developed part of the Italian economy: it represents a marginal area of an industrialized economic system, and can therefore be considered an industrialized area in itself. I maintain that, beyond some negative institutional features (mainly, the heavy economic role played by illegal organizations such as the Mafia),the Mezzogiorno’s mix of marginality and industrialization represents an extreme case of the growth paths followed -or to be followed- by other areas in the European pheripheries. On the other hand, the development of finance and banking institutions and their (active or passive) role are crucial in the development of the economic systems75. Hence, my analysis aims to highlight the financial constraints which hinder the economic evolution of Southern Italy and, possibly, of other European marginal areas. To this end, I stress some of the more general and theoretical aspects.
I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Damiano Silipo’s collaboration in compiling the tables and figures of the paper. I am also grateful to MURST for financial support (grant 40%).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Reference
BALTENSPERGER, E. (1980), “Alternative approaches to the theory of the banking firm”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 6, 1–37.
BANCA D’ITALIA (1989), Relazione annuale sul 1988, Roma.
BANCA D’ITALIA (1990), II sistema finanziario nel Mezzogiorno, G. Galli (ed.), Contributi all’analisi economica, numero speciale, Roma.
BAUMOL, W.J.; PANZAR, J.C.; WILLIG, R.D. (1982), Contestable Markets and the Theory of Industry Stmcture, New York.
BAUMOL, W.J.; PANZAR, J.C.; WILLIG, R.D. (1983), “Contestable Markets: An Uprising in the Theory of Industry Structure: Reply”, American Economic Review, 73, 491–6.
CAMERON, R. (1967), Banking in the early stages of industrialization, Oxford.
CHICK, V.; DOW, S.C. (1988), “A post-Keynesian perspective on the relation between banking and regional development”, Post-Keynesian monetary economics, P. Arestis (ed. ), Aldershot.
CURRIE, M.; MESSORI, M. (1993), “New institutional economics and new Keynesian economics”, mimeo.
D’AMICO, N.; PARIGI, G.; TRIFILIDIS, M. (1990), “I tassi d’interesse e la rischiosità degli impieghi bancari nel Mezzogiorno” in Banca d’Italia (1990).
DE MEZA, D.; WEBB, D.C. (1987), “Too Much Investment: A Problem of Asymmetric Information”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 101, 282–92.
DE MEZA, D.; WEBB, D.C. (1988), “Credit market efficiency and tax policy in the presence of screening costs”, Journal of Public Economics, 36, 1–22.
DI BATTISTA, M.L; GRILLO, M. (1988), “La concorrenza nell’industria bancaria italiana” in Banca Commerciale Italiana, Banca e mercato, Bologna.
D’ONOFRIO, P.; PEPE, R. (1990), “Le strutture creditizie nel Mezzogiorno” in Banca d’Italia (1990).
DOW, S.C. (1987), “The treatment of money in regional economics”, Journal of Regional Science, 27.
FAINI, R.; GALLI, G.; GIANNINI, C. (1992), “Finance and development: The case of Southern Italy”, Banca d’Italia — Temi di discussione, no. 170, giugno.
FAZIO, A. (1985), “Credito e attività produttiva nel Mezzogiorno”, Banca d’Italia — Bollettino economico, Ottobre, 27–42.
FUDENBERG, D.; TIROLE, J. (1986), “A Theory of Exit in Duopoly”, Econometrica, 54, 943–60.
GALE, D.; HELLWIG, M. (1985), “Incentive—compatible debt contracts: The one-period problem”, Review of Economic Studies, 52, 647–63.
GALLI, G.; ONADO, M. (1990), “Dualismo territoriale e sistema finanziario” in Banca d’Italia (1990).
GAMBETTA, D. (1988), Trust. Making and breaking cooperative relations, Oxford.
GIANNOLA, A.; MARANI, U. (1991), “The financial structure of Mezzogiorno’s industrial firms”, Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze economiche e sociali, Università di Napoli, no. 2.
GOLDSMITH, R.W. (1969), Financial structure and development, New Haven.
GREENWALD, B.C.; STIGLITZ, J.E. (1987), “Keynesian, new Keynesian and new classical economics”, Oxford Economic Papers, 39, 119–32.
GROSSMAN, S.J.; HART, O.D. (1986), “The costs and benefits of ownership: A theory of vertical and lateral integration”, Journal of Political Economy, 94, 691–719.
HART, O.; HOLMSTROM, B. (1987), “The Theory of Contracts” in Advances in Economic Theory, T.F. Bewley (ed. ), Cambridge.
HART, O.D.; MOORE, J. (1988), “Incomplete contracts and renegotiation”, Econometrica, 56, 755–85.
HART, O.D.; MOORE, J. (1990), “Property rights and the nature of the firm”, Journal of Political Economy, 98, 1119–58.
KING, R.G.; LEVINE, R. (1993), “Finance and growth: Schumpeter might be right”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107, 733–37.
KREPS, D.M. (1990), A Course in Micrneconomic Theory, New York.
MARULLO REEDTZ, P. (1990), “La redditività delle aziende di credito. Un’analisi per aree geografiche” in Banca d’Italia (1990).
MARZANO, F.; DEL MONTE, A.; FABBRONI, M.; MARTINA, R. (1983), “Il sistema bancario meridionale, lo sviluppo del Mezzogiorno e l’ingresso di banche estere in Italia”, Economia italiana, 61–107.
MCKINNON, R.I. (1973), Money and capital in economic development, Washington.
MESSORI, M. (1989), “Sistemi di imprese e sviluppo meridionale. Un confronto fra due aree industriali” in Modelli di sviluppo, G. Becattini (ed. ), Bologna.
MESSORI, M.; SILIPO, D. (1991), “Un’analisi empirica delle differenze territoriali del sistema bancario italiano”, Cespe Paper, no. 6/90.
MESSORI, M.; TAMBORINI, R. (1993), “Money, credit and finance in a sequence economy”, Working Papers, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Università di Roma “La Sapienza
MILDE, H.; RILEY, J.G. (1988), “Signaling in Credit Markets”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 103, 101–29.
MILGROM, P.; ROBERTS, J. (1990), “Bargaining costs, influence costs and the organization of economic activity” in Perspectives on Positive Political Economy, J.E. Alt and K.A. Shepsle (eds. ), Cambridge.
NELSON, R.R.; WINTER, S.G. (1982), An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, Cambridge Mass..
ONADO, M.; SALVO, G.; VILLANI, M. (1990), “Flussi finanziari e allocazione del risparmio nel Mezzogiorno” in Banca d’Italia (1990).
PITTALUGA, G.B. (1987), “Il razionamento del credito bancario in Italia: una verifica empirica”, Moneta e credito. Now in G.B. Pittaluga (1989), II razionamento del credito: aspetti teorici e verifiche empiriche, Genova.
PRISMAN, E.Z.; SLOVIN, M.B.; SUSHKA, M.E. (1986), “A general model of the banking firm under conditions of monopoly, uncertainty, and recourse”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 17, 293–304.
SCHUMPETER, J.A. (1912), Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicldung; engl.tmns. The Theory of Economic Development, New York, 1961 (first edition: 1934 ).
SCHUMPETER, J.A. (1939), Business Cycles. A Theoretical, Historical and Statistical Analysis of the Capitalist Process, 2 vol., New York.
SCHUMPETER, J.A. (1970), Das Wesen des Geldes, F.K. Mann (ed. ), Goettingen.
SHARPE, S.A. (1990), “Asymmetric information, bank lending, and implicit contracts: A stylized model of customer relationships”, Joumal of Finance, 45, 1069–87.
SHARPE, S.A. (1992), “Consumer switching costs, market structure and prices: The theory and its application in the bank deposit market”, Finance and Economics Discussion Series, 183, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C..
SIMON, H.A. (1959), “Theories of decision making in economics”, American Economic Review, 49, 253–283.
SIMON, H.A. (1979), “Rational decision making in business organizations”, American Economic Review, 69, 493–513.
SIRACUSANO, F.; TRESOLDI, C. (1990), “Le piccole imprese manifatturiere nel Mezzogiorno: Diseconomie esterne, incentivi, equilibri gestionali e finanziari” in Banca d’Italia (1990).
STIGLITZ, J.E. (1987a), “The Causes and Consequences of the Dependence of Quality on Price”, Joumal of Economic Literature, 25, 1–48.
STIGLITZ, J.E. (1987b), “The new Keynesian economics: Money and credit”, mimeo.
STIGLITZ, J.E.; WEISS, A. (1981), “Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information”, American Economic Review, 71, 393–410.
STIGLITZ, J.E.; WEISS, A. (1988), “Banks as Social Accountants and Screening Devices for the Allocation of Credit”, NBER Working Paper, no. 2710.
STIGLITZ, J.E.; WEISS, A. (1992), “Macro—Economic Equilibrium and Credit Rationing”, Oxford Economic Papers, 44, 694–724.
TOWNSEND, R.M. (1979), “Optimal contracts and competitive markets with costly state verification”. Joumal of Economic Theory, 21, 265–93.
WILLIAMSON, O.E. (1975), Markets and Hierarchies. New York.
WILLIAMSON, O.E. (1985), The Economic Institutions of Capitalism, New York.
WILLIAMSON, O.E. (1989), “Transaction cost economics” in Handbook of Industrial Organization, R. Schmalensee and R. Willig (eds. ), Amsterdam.
ZAZZARO, A. (1992), “Banche locali e sviluppo economico regionale: costi di liquidità e costi di solvibilità ”, Rivista di politica economica, 83, 107–52.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Messori, M. (1996). Banking and Finance in the Italian Mezzogiorno: Issues and Problems. In: Vence-Deza, X., Metcalfe, J.S. (eds) Wealth from Diversity. Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation, vol 9. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6964-7_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6964-7_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-4759-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-6964-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive