This paper investigates the short-term effects of foreign bank entry on the behaviour of the domestic banking sector. We hypothesise that these effects are dependent on the level of economic development of the host country. Our investigation shows that at lower levels of economic development foreign bank entry is generally associated with higher costs and margins for domestic banks. At higher levels of economic development the effects appear to be less clear: foreign bank entry is either associated with a fall of costs, profits and margins of domestic banks, or is not associated with changes in these domestic bank variables.

This paper provides an overview of the major issues with respect to financial system development in transition economies, which were discussed at a conference in Groningen, the Netherlands, December 1997. After a brief remark on the role of financial system design during economic transition, the paper focuses on the role of stock markets in the process of financial intermediation with emphasis on the role of regulations in these markets, the role of deposit insurance to improve bank system stability, and the importance of an independent central bank, measurement issues relating to central bank independence and its impact on inflation and growth.

How does the salience and structure of costs for financial advice influence consumer demand? This study conducts a randomized choice experiment exploring possible consequences of introducing a commission ban in the retail mortgage market. A sample of more than 2,100 participants of the Dutch Household Survey panel reveals that in a fee-based regime, in which the costs of advice are salient and must be paid upfront, demand for advice decreases by 25 percent compared with a situation in which the same costs are embedded in mortgage payments. We do not find evidence that such demand effects for financial advice varies across less versus more sophisticated customers. At the same time, we do find that customers with a stronger focus on the present express less willingness to pay for advice upfront.