Abstract
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous growth in the number of credit brokers (CB) in Italy. Some estimates maintain that about a quarter of residential mortgage loans are intermediated by CB (Europe Economics, 2009); their market shares of some leasing and consumer credit products are also significant. Despite the importance of credit brokerage services, little empirical research has been devoted to investigating its origins. In this paper we undertake an analysis of CB diffusion in Italian provinces (NUTS3 level) based on spatial panel data model that aims to estimate the relevance of spatial effects. Two models are developed in order to identify the determinants of this phenomenon. The results emphasize that CB diffusion is to some extent influenced by the socioeconomic and banking features of the area, but estimates reveal also the emergence of a ‘herding effect’ whose occurrence is probably due to the fact that access to the brokerage profession is not hindered by heavy regulatory requirements.
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© 2010 Federica Poli and Teodora Erika Uberti
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Poli, F., Uberti, T.E. (2010). The Driving Forces of Credit Brokers’ Diffusion in Italy: An Empirical Analysis. In: Fiordelisi, F., Molyneux, P., Previati, D. (eds) New Issues in Financial and Credit Markets. Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230302181_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230302181_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32478-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-30218-1
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