Finance and Investment: The European Case

Low growth, low investment, insufficient spend on infrastructure, weak bank lending to the corporate sector, and funding deficiencies of small and medium-sized enterprises are all causes of concern in Europe. To many, they point to fundamental problems in the financing of European companies and in Europe's financial systems. Are these concerns valid and do the structure and performance of the financial system lie at their heart? If so, what should be done to address them, and have the right policy prescriptions been identified to date? A product of the Restarting European Investment Finance research programme, Finance and Investment: The European Case brings together leading researchers to consider the causes of the persistently low level of investment in Europe. It examines the extent to which the financial system is a contributory factor and identifies possible remedies, considering the relation of finance to corporate sector investment, the lending behaviour of banks, the provision of equity financing, and the role of public sector institutions, regulation, and taxation. Finance and Investment provides one of the most comprehensive and thorough analyses of any financial system undertaken to date. It reflects a large body of research using new and existing data sets, employing advanced empirical tools, and exploiting the unique insights provided by the tumultuous events of financial and sovereign debt crises. Together, they comprise an exceptional body of knowledge to advance academic thinking and guide policy formulation.