IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbfina/v25y2001i2p271-294.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What do financial intermediaries do?

Author

Listed:
  • Allen, Franklin
  • Santomero, Anthony M.

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that the traditional banking business of accepting deposits and making loans has declined significantly in the US in recent years. There has been a switch from directly held assets to pension funds and mutual funds. However, banks have maintained their position relative to GDP by innovating and switching from their traditional business to fee-producing activities. A comparison of investor portfolios across countries shows that households in the US and UK bear considerably more risk from their investments than counterparts in Japan, France and Germany. It is argued that in these latter countries intermediaries can manage risk by holding liquid reserves and intertemporally smoothing. However, in the US and UK competition from financial markets prevents this and risk management must be accomplished using derivatives and other similar techniques. The decline in the traditional banking business and the financial innovation undertaken by banks in the US is interpreted as a response to the competition from markets and the decline of intertemporal smoothing.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Allen, Franklin & Santomero, Anthony M., 2001. "What do financial intermediaries do?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 271-294, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:25:y:2001:i:2:p:271-294
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378426699001296
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schmidt, Reinhard H. & Hackethal, Andreas & Tyrell, Marcel, 1999. "Disintermediation and the Role of Banks in Europe: An International Comparison," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 8(1-2), pages 36-67, January.
    2. Mayer, Colin, 1988. "New issues in corporate finance," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1167-1183, June.
    3. Bertero, Elisabetta, 1994. "The Banking System, Financial Markets, and Capital Structure: Some New Evidence from France," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 10(4), pages 68-78, Winter.
    4. Bhattacharya Sudipto & Thakor Anjan V., 1993. "Contemporary Banking Theory," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 2-50, October.
    5. Scholtens, Bert & van Wensveen, Dick, 2000. "A critique on the theory of financial intermediation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(8), pages 1243-1251, August.
    6. Duffie Darrell & Rahi Rohit, 1995. "Financial Market Innovation and Security Design: An Introduction," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 1-42, February.
    7. George G. Kaufman & Larry R. Mote, 1994. "Is banking a declining industry? A historical perspective," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 18(May), pages 2-21.
    8. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 1995. "The Effect of Credit Market Competition on Lending Relationships," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 407-443.
    9. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    10. Allen, Franklin & Santomero, Anthony M., 1997. "The theory of financial intermediation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(11-12), pages 1461-1485, December.
    11. Allen, Franklin & Gale, Douglas, 1997. "Financial Markets, Intermediaries, and Intertemporal Smoothing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 523-546, June.
    12. John H. Boyd & Mark Gertler, 1994. "Are banks dead?," The Region, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 8(Sep), pages 22-26.
    13. Colin Mayer, 1990. "Financial Systems, Corporate Finance, and Economic Development," NBER Chapters, in: Asymmetric Information, Corporate Finance, and Investment, pages 307-332, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1990. "Asymmetric Information, Corporate Finance, and Investment," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number glen90-1.
    15. Paul Hoffman & Anthony M. Santomero, 1998. "Life Insurance Firms in the Retirement Market: Is the News All Bad?," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 98-04, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gunturu Phani Sai Vamsi Krishna & Pankaj Kumar Baag, 2021. "Financial Intermediaries: Its different role," Working papers 464, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    2. Marcel Canoy & Machiel van Dijk & Jan Lemmen & Ruud de Mooij & Jürgen Weigand, 2001. "Competition and stability in banking," CPB Document 15.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    3. Doris Neuberger, 2005. "What’s Common to Relationship Banking and Relationship Investing? Reflections within the Contractual Theory of the Firm," Finance 0510003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Nicola Cetorelli & Michele Gambera, 2001. "Banking Market Structure, Financial Dependence and Growth: International Evidence from Industry Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(2), pages 617-648, April.
    5. Zsolt Becsi & Ping Wang & Mark A. Wynne, 1998. "Costly intermediation and the big push," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 98-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    6. Michel Boutillier & Nathalie Lévy & Valérie Oheix, 2007. "Financial intermediation in developed countries:heterogeneity, lengthening and risk transfer [Intermédiation financière dans les pays développés : hétérogénéité, allongement et transfert de risque]," Working Papers hal-03929054, HAL.
    7. Allen, Franklin & Gale, Douglas, 1995. "A welfare comparison of intermediaries and financial markets in Germany and the US," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 179-209, February.
    8. Coccorese, Paolo, 2008. "An investigation on the causal relationships between banking concentration and economic growth," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 557-570, June.
    9. Andreani, Ettore & Neuberger, Doris, 2004. "Relationship finance by banks and non-bank institutional investors: A review within the theory of the firm," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 46, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    10. Al-Jarhi, Mabid Ali, 2005. "The Case For Universal Banking As A Component Of Islamic Banking," Islamic Economic Studies, The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), vol. 13, pages 2-65.
    11. Liu, Guy & Mirzaei, Ali & Vandoros, Sotiris, 2014. "The impact of bank competition and concentration on industrial growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 60-63.
    12. Julia Koralun-Bereźnicka, 2014. "On the Relative Importance of Corporate Working Capital Determinants: Findings from the EU Countries," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 8(4), December.
    13. Ayako Yasuda, 2001. "Institutions, Relationships and Bank Competition in Bond Underwriting Markets: An International Comparative Study," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 01-31, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    14. Majumdar, Sumit K., 2016. "Debt and communications technology diffusion: Retrospective evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 458-474.
    15. Nowak, Eric, 1998. "Finance, investment, and firm value in Germany and the US: A comparative analysis," SFB 373 Discussion Papers 1998,49, Humboldt University of Berlin, Interdisciplinary Research Project 373: Quantification and Simulation of Economic Processes.
    16. Grant P. Kabango & Alberto Paloni, 2010. "Financial liberalisation and industrial development in Malawi," Working Papers 2010_08, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    17. Cobham, David & Subramaniam, Ramesh, 1998. "Corporate finance in developing countries: New evidence for India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1033-1047, June.
    18. Doris Neuberger, 2005. "What’s Common to Relationship Banking and Relationship Investing? Reflections within the Contractual Theory of the Firm," Finance 0510001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Doris Neuberger, 2005. "What’s Common to Relationship Banking and Relationship Investing? Reflections within the Contractual Theory of the Firm," Finance 0503001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Wu, Xueping & Yao, Jun, 2012. "Understanding the rise and decline of the Japanese main bank system: The changing effects of bank rent extraction," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 36-50.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services
    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:25:y:2001:i:2:p:271-294. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.