Banking on States? the Divergent Trajectories of European Finance After the Crisis
Banking on States? The divergent trajectories of European finance after the crisis By Elsa Clara Massoc A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Jonah Levy, Co-Chair Professor Paul Pierson, Co-Chair Professor Steve Vogel Professor John Zysman Professor Neil Fligstein Summer 2018 Abstract Banking on States? The divergent trajectories of European finance after the crisis by Elsa Clara Massoc Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science University of California, Berkeley Professor Paul Pierson, Co-Chair Professor Jonah Levy, Co-Chair Many conventional theories in Economics and Political Science stress that the liberalization and globalization of finance have homogenized the behavior of state and market actors. Some even go so far as to assume that states have become irrelevant actors. However, these theories cannot account for empirical observations laid out in my dissertation research: that responses to the financial crisis in Europe have largely been crafted at the national level. Since the crisis of 2008, there have been different trajectories of finance across Europe. In France, banks have grown bigger, as they have developed their operations in market-based banking as well as in traditional banking, both globally and at home. In Germany, Deutsche Bank maintained, and even developed, its global market activities until 2014-5. On the other side, local banks have reinforced their incumbent position in domestic retail markets. British banks have shrunk quite dramatically. They have largely retreated from the game of global finance, while foreign financial institutions have continued to use the infrastructures provided by the City of London as a base for their global market operations.
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