Betriebsgrößen- und Fusionseffekte bei Kreditgenossenschaften

Size and Merger Effects on Cooperative Banks Proceeding from theoretical considerations, this article analyses the effects of mergers and corporate size on the balance sheet ratios of cooperative banks. This empirical study is based on a sample of a total of 731 annual financial statements of cooperative banks and on the 50 mergers included in these statements covering the period 1990/2000. The results of the analysis show that the existence of significant differences between merged and non-merged cooperative banks could not be proved. On the other hand, corporate size effects do in fact exist. It would thus be fair to conclude that larger credit co-operatives record advantages concerning the administrative costs, but that their earnings grow below average compared with their corporate size. Their advantages concerning the administrative costs cannot do more than offset the financial and liquidity disadvantages they experience. Obvious, by contrast, is especially the deterioration in their own capital ratio