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The German bank–growth nexus revisited: savings banks and economic growth in Prussia

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  • Sibylle Lehmann‐Hasemeyer
  • Fabian Wahl

Abstract

This article provides evidence that smaller, regional public financial intermediaries contributed to Germany's industrial development, using a new dataset of the foundation year and location of Prussian savings banks. This extends the bank–growth nexus beyond its traditional focus on large universal banks. Since savings banks were public financial intermediaries, our results further suggest that state intervention can be successful in the financial sector, particularly at the early stages of industrial development when capital requirements are manageable, and access to international capital markets is limited.

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  • Sibylle Lehmann‐Hasemeyer & Fabian Wahl, 2021. "The German bank–growth nexus revisited: savings banks and economic growth in Prussia," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(1), pages 204-222, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:74:y:2021:i:1:p:204-222
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.13030
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    Cited by:

    1. Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle H. & Neumayer, Andreas & Streb, Jochen, 2022. "Heterogeneous savers and their inflation expectation during German industrialization: Social class, wealth, and gender," Working Papers 33, German Research Foundation's Priority Programme 1859 "Experience and Expectation. Historical Foundations of Economic Behaviour", Humboldt University Berlin.
    2. S. M. Shamsul Alam & Mohammad Abdul Matin Chowdhury & Dzuljastri Bin Abdul Razak, 2021. "Research evolution in banking performance: a bibliometric analysis," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Huning, Thilo R. & Wahl, Fabian, 2021. "The fetters of inheritance? Equal partition and regional economic development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle & Neumayer, Andreas & Streb, Jochen, 2023. "Heterogeneous inflation and deflation experiences and savings decisions during German industrialization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

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