Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
This paper uses a unique data set – comprising 125 years of individual bank balance sheets – to investigate the effect of regulatory changes on the evolution of bank competition in Italy. The historical depth of this data set makes it possible to assess the impact of infrequent regulatory reforms that drastically changed the banking sector in the 1930s and in the 1980s. We compare several indicators to analyze how bank competition evolves, and we find that its evolution exhibits a yo-yo pattern induced by the changes in regulatory regimes.