Following the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, all major jurisdictions in Europe have tightened regulations on capital and liquidity of banks based on the Basel III global standards. The new Basel IV standards will take this further. While these new regulations may reduce the risk of bank bankruptcies, (and can lead to more capital and liquidity-efficient business models and products), they are also likely to harm smaller banks and make the banking system less diverse. But what are the consequences for small and innovate firms? Do small firms need small banks? Why is it important to have a diverse financial ecosystem for SMEs? Can European regional policies represent a valid alternative for SMEs to the local financial systems, especially in peripheral regions? And under which circumstances? This book addresses these questions by collecting several strands of data, exploring new areas of analysis, but also by reviewing the relevant literature on the topic. Particularly, after discussing the importance of the financial system for economic growth, it discusses how and to what extent the structure and the geography of the banking system affect the access to credit of small and innovative firms. Moreover, by using a detailed dataset on the Italian manufacturing and banking sector over the period 2007-2013, it provides an empirical investigation on the impact of European regional policies on SMEs' growth within different institutional and banking contexts.

Marta Degl'Innocenti is Associate Professor of Finance at the Southampton Business School, University of Southampton. Degl'Innocenti holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Bologna. Her current research interests are banking sector performance, regulation and stability, bank corporate governance, regional inequalities, supply chain, and firms' access to finance. She has published papers in a range of leading international journals such as the Journal of Banking & Finance, European Journal of Operational Research, Environment and Planning A, Research Policy, among others.