Sunday, January 6

Cross-border M&As in the financial sector: Is banking different from insurance?

Well, the answer seems to be yes according to this research paper.

Dario Focarelli and Alberto Franco Pozzolo, Cross-border M&As in the financial sector: Is banking different from insurance, Journal of Banking & Finance Volume 32, Issue 1, , Dynamics of Insurance Markets: Structure, Conduct, and Performance in the 21st Century, January 2008, Pages 15-29.()Abstract: This paper investigates what factors might help explain the internationalisation strategy of banks and insurance companies, by comparing the determinants of cross-border M&As in the two sectors in a unified framework. The empirical analysis shows that between 1990 and 2003 the internationalisation of banks and insurance companies followed similar patterns. Distance and economic and cultural integration are important determinants for both the banks' and the insurance companies' expansion abroad. Comparative advantage also has a prominent role, the more so for banks. The evidence is less supportive of the view that cross-border M&As are more frequent between similar countries, as predicted by the new trade theory. Finally, and most interestingly, we find indirect evidence consistent with the hypothesis that implicit barriers to foreign entry are more important in explaining the behaviour of banks than that of insurance companies.

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