Conference on Banks and the Real Economy

Prior cross-country research suggests that the financial sector affects the real economy by impacting access to finance, real incomes, economic growth and financial stability. Yet to date, the extent to which banks benefit or hinder the real economy remains an open question that received increasing attention from taxpayers, policy makers, and academicians in the wake of the global financial crisis. In particular, issues related to the impact of bailout programs on the banking industry growth, risk and size, as well as the impact of the banking sector activities and structure on households, corporations and the economy in general remain unexplored.

Against this backdrop, this conference aims to promote high quality theoretical and empirical research that develops a better understanding of the relation between banks and the real economy. We are interested in papers that employ rich new datasets, exploit exogenous shocks to the banking system, apply advanced methodologies and address identification challenges.