Equal treatment in access to credit has long been a fundamental social goal in the United States. However, despite the passage of several laws in the U.S. prohibiting discrimination in the provision of financial services on the basis of race, gender, and marital status, among other factors, questions concerning the existence of racial discrimination in such areas as home mortgage loans and small business credit continue, and confound public policy makers. This book is composed of nine articles and a panel discussion, originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Financial Services Research. These contributions explore the complex issue of discrimination in financial services.

Equal treatment in access to credit has long been a fundamental social goal in the United States. However, despite the passage of several laws in the U.S. prohibiting discrimination in the provision of financial services on the basis of race, gender, and marital status, among other factors, questions concerning the existence of racial discrimination in such areas as home mortgage loans and small business credit continue, and confound public policy makers. This book is composed of nine articles and a panel discussion, originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Financial Services Research. These contributions explore the complex issue of discrimination in financial services.

The papers in this volume empirically examine three evolving and important topics in financial economics: the determinants of monetary and bank efficiency and the key factors that contribute to successful monetary and banking operations; the institutional factors that enhance or detract from the efficient manner in which financial markets work; and the macro, micro, and social factors that impact stock valuation and optimum portfolio selection.

This volume contains contemporary analysis of three key developments in financial economics: financial integration; the dynamics of financial markets; and the information, computer, and technology revolution and its impact on markets and the economic performance, among others. With regard to financial integration, the contributions focus on three streams in international finance: the impact of increased financial integration on credit risk and on the required regulatory arrangements needed to reduce the probability of welfare reducing bank failures, the creation of new international currencies, and the relationship between finance and growth. With regard to the dynamics of financial markets, specific attention is devoted to the complex interaction of different sets of traders with heterogeneous beliefs and information sets. Finally, with respect to the ICT revolution, attention is focused on its impact on: foreign direct investment across countries, competition in the banking industry, consolidation in the financial services industry including its effects credit availability for small and medium sized enterprises, and the capital structure decisions of financial firms.

This volume includes papers on topics related to efficiency issues in U.S. and European equity and options markets, as well as the productive efficiency of various types of depository financial institutions. In the capital market context, the book highlights the provisions of efficient trading services in the capital markets and the role of market size, concentration, quality, governance and automation of trading. In the banking perspectives, the volume presents topics related to market integration, dynamic models of bank production, regulatory closure rules for banking firms, risk based insurance premiums in banking, and the economics of the research and development in private firms.

The second volume of the series contains a combination of theoretical and empirical studies of issues in financial economics, investments, and banking authored by leading researchers in the US and Europe. Specific topics examined include asset pricing, corporate governance, dividend policy, pricing of financial services, portfolio theory, interest rate risk, capital structure, diversification strategies, and credit risk modelling. In addition to theoretical and empirical papers included in the volume, two represent applied articles written from a regulatory perspective by practising regulators.

Hardbound. This volume contains a broad range of papers examining contemporary managerial and public policy issues in finance and banking. Special emphasis is given to financial institutions, instruments, and markets. The volume includes papers examining prudential regulations and competition among banking institutions in different countries; the dynamics of stock returns along domestic and international dimensions; and the analysis of debt and equity issuance in the framework of the firm's financing decision. Other papers in the volume provide insight into such timely issues as the global integration of capital markets and the nature and impact of financial crisis at the household and economy-wide levels.