Abstract

Italian banking system has undergone a deep reorganization since the early 1990s. The restructuring process of banking system has been far from uniformity in terms of territorial structure of intermediaries' activity and of implications for financing of productive activities in Italy's weak areas. In this paper first we analyze the most representative data about the consolidated structure of Italian banking system, after the above-mentioned restructuring process; then we present evidence of some persistent problems in credit allocation and some incoherent aspects of Italian banking system structure. Specifically, we provide evidence of a type of mismatch between the demand of credit by Italian small firms and the supply function of reformed Italian banks.