Local banks and credit: from crisis to the new regulatory proposals for the development of lending policies in favour of the real economy

This work examines whether, for the years 2006-2011, the higher levels of risk involved in the management of banks in southern Italy compared to the centre-north of the country, irrespective of the crisis, are related to the “socio-environmental” context. A sample of 431 cooperative banks is considered, since the branches of this type of bank are found solely within the region in which the bank’s registered headquarters are situated. This allows us to interpret more clearly the role of environmental variables, such as crime, on riskiness (measured by the bad debt/loans ratio). The empirical results obtained confirm that the higher risk of banks in southern Italy is significantly conditioned by the socio-environmental conditions.