Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Raoul Minetti
Author-X-Name-First: Raoul
Author-X-Name-Last: Minetti
Author-Email: minetti@msu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Michigan State University 
Author-Name: Pierluigi Murro
Author-X-Name-First: Pierluigi
Author-X-Name-Last: Murro
Author-Email: pmurro@luiss.it
Author-Workplace-Name: LUISS University 
Author-Name: Valentina Peruzzi
Author-X-Name-First: Valentina
Author-X-Name-Last: Peruzzi
Author-Email: vperuzzi@luiss.it
Author-Workplace-Name: LUISS University
Title: Not all banks are equal. Cooperative banking and income inequality

Abstract: The re-regulation wave following the global financial crisis is putting pressure on local community and cooperative banks. In this paper, we show that cooperative banking can play a pivotal role in reducing income inequalities in local communities. By analyzing Italian local (provincial) credit markets over the 2001-2011 period, we find that cooperative banks mitigate income inequality more than their commercial counterparts. The results also suggest that it is the specific nature and orientation of cooperative banks, more than their relationship lending technologies, that improve income distribution. The impact of cooperative banking on inequality appears however to be partly channeled by a reduced dynamism of local economies, especially lower migratory flows and business turnover. 
Length: 35 pages
Creation-Date: 2019-10
Publication-Status: 
File-URL: https://repec.lumsa.it/wp/wpC31.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Number: wpC31
Classification-JEL: G21; G38; O15
Keywords: Cooperative banks, income inequality, financial development.
Handle: RePEc:lsa:wpaper:wpC31