J. Carles Maixé-Altés

Enterprise and philanthropy: the dilemma of Scottish savings banks in the late nineteenth century

This paper deals with the changes brought about in the organisation and internal management of resources and investments of the main Scottish savings banks, within the context of the British mutual banking sector at the turn of the century. A study of the archival evidence allows us to analyse the reforms introduced by some savings banks, and the impact of changes in regulations on some of the savings institutions for the working class. In addition, from an internal perspective, an analysis of accounting demonstrates the extent to which the philanthropic nature of savings banks led to the development of entrepreneurial initiatives and therefore greater flexibility in lending decisions.

Organisational change and the computerisation of British and Spanish savings banks, circa 1965-1985

In this article we explore organisational changes associated with the automation of financial intermediaries in Spain and the UK. This international comparison looks at the evolution of the same organisational form in two distinct competitive environments. Changes in regulation and technological developments (particularly applications of information technology) are said to be responsible for enhancing competitiveness of retail finance. Archival research on the evolution of savings banks helps to ascertain how, prior to competitive changes taking place, participants in bank markets had to develop capabilities to compete.

Structural Change in Peripheral European Markets Spanish Grocery Retailing, 1950-2007

The processes of structural change and modernization in the food distribution industry have been submitted to different economic and institutional frameworks in European countries. Three essential factors have affected structural change in Spain: 1) the role of technical and organizational innovations, 2) institutional factors such as regulation and market structures, and 3) foreign direct investments. This article discusses with the framework of the “latecomers.” In these countries, the factor of innovation has been produced in terms of appropriation, whether this is technological or organizational, usually influenced by foreign models or through direct foreign investment. The impact of these innovations has been highly conditioned by inflexible institutional surroundings. Considering the Spanish food trade in the last sixty years is a good way understanding processes of structural change in Mediterranean Europe. This research helps one understand the role taken by countries, which introduced factors of innovation and growth in less favourable surroundings than those of developed Europe.

Competition and choice: banks and savings banks in Spain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how Spanish savings banks have come to compete directly with commercial banks. It also looks at how regulatory changes and corporate strategies have affected the nature of competition between the two types of bank in Spain.Design/methodology/approach – There is a re‐examination of the existing bibliography as a basis prior to the analysis of new data as identified in surviving records from the Bank of Spain and the Spanish Confederation of savings banks (Confederacion Espanola de Cajas de Ahorro (CECA)).Findings – The work adopts a novel approach to explaining the current status quo in the Spanish banking industry and refocuses the performance of Spanish savings banks. The analysis highlights the role of the diverse institutional agents, i.e. the banks, savings banks, cooperative banks and mutual banks and the role these play in the evolution of competition. The effectiveness of the managers, of both the CECA and the savings banks, is also placed under the...

ICT the Nordic Way and European Retail Banking

This paper discusses the world industry of savings banks, a genuine world collaborative consortium, through which, from the 1950s, the International Savings Banks Institute (nowadays, the World Savings Banks Institute and European Savings Banks Group) was highly active in introducing ICT to retail banking. In this environment, Nordic savings banks, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, their Central Savings Banks and their industry associations occupied a separate place in European movements around developments of computerization and automation in retail financial services. The synergies in Nordic countries were superior to the rest of Europe and collaboration was intense. This paper highlights the leadership and the influence that the ICT development models of Nordic savings banks had on their European retail banking associates.

Corporate Governance in Spanish Savings Banks - A Historical Perspective

During the previous three decades, mutual financial firms have been experiencing a process of demutualization, and some of the non-for-profit banks have become publicly listed companies. Hence, the persistence of the Spanish Savings Banks constitutes an interesting case study. In line with recent literature, this paper attempts to reach a better understanding of the factors that have contributed to the persistence of these entities in the long run and to the maintenance of a very specific model of corporate governance. Regulatory influences, politics and political institutions have proved to be key elements of a model which has proved capable of delivering successful outcomes in increasingly competitive conditions. Nonetheless, the financial crisis would seem to have exacerbated the stresses and strains within this model and, in combination with the pressure of increasingly globalized markets, the Spanish Savings Banks find themselves in a new scenario.

In Digital We Trust: The Computerisation of Retail Finance in Western Europe and North America

This paper tells of the contents of a forthcoming volume, which offers a new and original approach to the study of technological change in retail finance. Most business history studies of businesses for the last 50 years note the emergence of computers and computer applications, but they do not analyze their role in shaping business practices and organizations. In this book we look directly at the processes of mechanisation and computerisation of retail financial services, throughout the 20th Century while articulating an international comparison. We bring together young, well established and independent historians, who come from different traditions (that is, economic, business, accounting, geography and political histories as well as historians of technology). Contributors look at stand alone and comparative case studies from different parts of the world (namely Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Mexico and the USA). The outcome is a rich survey of the broad literature examining different aspects of the technological and business histories of retail financial markets from a variety of perspectives.

Retail trade and payment innovations in the digital era: a cross-industry and multi-country approach

Abstract This article introduces a novel approach to payment innovations. It t identifies a cross-industry (retail trade and retail banking) and multi-country (USA, some Western European countries and Japan) approach to the interaction between these industries and the new retail payment systems from the 1970s to the mid 1990s. It documents and discusses the different trajectories that have been seen in the different competitive environments, particularly in regard to payment cards. It also analyses the involvement of bankers and retailers in the evolution of card payment systems and their contribution to the global adoption of bank cards. These processes have occurred within a framework in which sectoral boundaries have taken precedence over the payment alternatives associated with cross-industry solutions.

Banking, currency, stock market and debt crises in Spain, 1850–1995

ABSTRACT What type of crisis is generated when debt increases? We extend the literature by framework by introducing currency and stock market crises in the analysis. We apply our proposal to the case of Spain, since this is a country that has experienced a very important amount of financial crises from the nineteenth century onwards. We find the same results as the previous literature for the determinants of banking and debt crises but substituting external and public debt with perpetual debt and where perpetual debt has a less important role than crises in the private sector. Moreover, we find evidence in favour of the hypothesis that currency crises depend strongly and positively on financial centre crises and negatively and mildly on perpetual debt. We justify the negative relalionship due to an inflation tax. We also find evidence in favour of the hypothesis that stock market crises depend only positively and strongly on financial centre crises.

Banking, Currency, Stock Market and Debt Crises: Revisiting Reinhart & Rogoff Debt Analysis in Spain, 1850-1995

What type of crisis is generated when debt increases? We study the Spanish ndebt evolution in the 19th and 20th centuries by introducing currency and stockmarket ncrises in the Reinhart and Rogoff (2011) framework. We find their same nresults for the determinants of banking and debt crises but substituting external nand public debt with perpetual debt. Moreover, we find that currency crises ndepend strongly and positively on financial centers crises and negatively and nmildly on perpetual debt. We justify the negative relationship due to an inflation ntax. We also find that stock-market crises depend only positively and strongly non financial centers crises.