IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecb/ecbwps/20263256.html

The changing geography of banking in CESEE. Branch closures outpace openings

Author

Listed:
  • Beckmann, Elisabeth
  • Weinel, Jette Leonie

Abstract

We study the evolution of bank branch networks in ten CESEE countries between 2013 and 2021. Using a manually compiled dataset of all branches and their geocoordinates, we document a decline exceeding 30%, with substantial heterogeneity across and within countries. We show that banking market consolidation is a key driver of closures, while profitability and local economic growth mitigate them. Branches in highly urban or very rural areas close more often. Competitive effects are nonlinear: moderate clustering lowers closure risk, but intense competition increases it. These patterns differ markedly across CESEE banking systems during the entire period we analyze. JEL Classification: D53, G21, R12

Suggested Citation

  • Beckmann, Elisabeth & Weinel, Jette Leonie, 2026. "The changing geography of banking in CESEE. Branch closures outpace openings," Working Paper Series 3256, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20263256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpwps/ecb.wp3256~2bf448ead2.en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kočenda, Evžen & Iwasaki, Ichiro, 2020. "Bank survival in Central and Eastern Europe," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 860-878.
    2. Hans Degryse & Nancy Masschelein & Janet Mitchell, 2004. "SMEs and Bank Lending Relationships: the Impact of Mergers," Working Paper Research 46, National Bank of Belgium.
    3. Ross Levine, 1997. "Financial Development and Economic Growth: Views and Agenda," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 688-726, June.
    4. Rajesh P. Narayanan & Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara & Philip Strahan, 2025. "The Decline of Bank Branching," NBER Working Papers 33773, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Yan Ji & Songyuan Teng & Robert M. Townsend, 2023. "Dynamic Bank Expansion: Spatial Growth, Financial Access, and Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(8), pages 2209-2275.
    6. J. Vernon Henderson & Adam Storeygard & David N. Weil, 2012. "Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 994-1028, April.
    7. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 1995. "The Effect of Credit Market Competition on Lending Relationships," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 407-443.
    8. Laura Barbieri & Mariarosa Borroni & Andrea Lippi & Mariacristina Piva & Simone Rossi, 2021. "Determinants of Bank Branch Presence in Local Areas: A Comparison Between North and South of Italy," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Elisabeth Beckmann & Sarah Reiter & Helmut Stix, 2018. "A geographic perspective on banking in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe," Focus on European Economic Integration, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q1-18, pages 26-47.
    10. Amberg, Niklas & Becker, Bo, 2024. "Banking Without Branches," CEPR Discussion Papers 19450, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    11. Allen N. Berger & Gregory F. Udell, 2002. "Small Business Credit Availability and Relationship Lending: The Importance of Bank Organisational Structure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(477), pages 32-53, February.
    12. Hans Degryse & Steven Ongena, 2005. "Distance, Lending Relationships, and Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 231-266, February.
    13. Maddalena Galardo & Iconio Garrì & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli & Davide Revelli, 2021. "The geography of banking: Evidence from branch closings," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 50(1), February.
    14. Marie-Claire Broekhoff & Carin van der Cruijsen, 2025. "The cost of closure: the relation between the presence of bank branches and trust," Working Papers 848, DNB.
    15. Claeys, Sophie & Hainz, Christa, 2014. "Modes of foreign bank entry and effects on lending rates: Theory and evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 160-177.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benfratello, Luigi & Schiantarelli, Fabio & Sembenelli, Alessandro, 2008. "Banks and innovation: Microeconometric evidence on Italian firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 197-217, November.
    2. Flögel, Franz, 2016. "Distance and Modern Banks' Lending to SMEs: Decentralised versus Centralised Banking in Germany," IAT Discussion Papers 16/01, Institut Arbeit und Technik (IAT), Westfälische Hochschule, University of Applied Sciences.
    3. Masagus M. Ridhwan & Henri L.F. de Groot & Piet Rietveld & Peter Nijkamp, 2012. "Regional Interest Rate Variations: Evidence from the Indonesian Credit Markets," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-073/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Franz Flögel, 2018. "Distance and Modern Banks’ Lending to SMEs: Ethnographic Insights from a Comparison of Regional and Large Banks in Germany," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 35-57.
    5. Lee, Neil & Brown, Ross, 2016. "Innovation, SMEs and the liability of distance: the demand and supply of bank funding in peripheral UK regions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66215, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Canales, Rodrigo & Nanda, Ramana, 2012. "A darker side to decentralized banks: Market power and credit rationing in SME lending," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 353-366.
    7. Antonio Martuscelli, 2025. "Rising wage inequality: Is there a role for financial development?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 72(2), pages 1-24, December.
    8. Bellucci, Andrea & Borisov, Alexander & Giombini, Germana & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2015. "Collateral and Local Lending: Testing the Lender-Based Theory," HIT-REFINED Working Paper Series 21, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    9. Cerqueiro, Geraldo & Degryse, Hans & Ongena, Steven, 2011. "Rules versus discretion in loan rate setting," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 503-529, October.
    10. Norden, L., 2015. "The Role of Banks in SME Finance," ERIM Inaugural Address Series Research in Management EIA-2015-062-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam..
    11. Song Zhang & Liang Han & Konstantinos Kallias & Antonios Kallias, 2022. "Bank switching of US small businesses: new methods and evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1573-1616, May.
    12. Kerr, William R. & Nanda, Ramana, 2009. "Democratizing entry: Banking deregulations, financing constraints, and entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 124-149, October.
    13. Mr. Arnoud W.A. Boot & Peter Hoffmann & Mr. Luc Laeven & Mr. Lev Ratnovski, 2020. "Financial Intermediation and Technology: What’s Old, What’s New?," IMF Working Papers 2020/161, International Monetary Fund.
    14. repec:ecb:ecbdps:202010 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Allen N. Berger & Raluca Roman & John Sedunov, 2016. "Do bank bailouts reduce or increase systemic risk? the effects of TARP on financial system stability," Research Working Paper RWP 16-8, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    16. Franz Flögel & Marius Beckamp, 2020. "Will FinTech make regional banks superfluous for small firm finance? Observations from soft information‐based lending in Germany," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 49(2), July.
    17. Michiel Bijlsma & Andrei Dubovik, 2014. "Banks, Financial Markets and Growth in Developed Countries: a Survey of the empirical literature," CPB Discussion Paper 266.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    18. Jordan van Rijn & Shuwei Zeng & Paul Hellman, 2021. "Financial institution objectives and auto loan pricing: Evidence from the survey of consumer finances," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 995-1039, September.
    19. Fungáčová, Zuzana & Shamshur, Anastasiya & Weill, Laurent, 2017. "Does bank competition reduce cost of credit? Cross-country evidence from Europe," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 104-120.
    20. Ioana-Carmen BOZINTAN (COSMA-GULER), 2022. "SMEs FINANCING – AN OVERVIEW OF DIRECT FINANCING ON CAPITAL MARKET VS. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 2(2), pages 92-102, December.
    21. Jiménez, Gabriel & Salas, Vicente & Saurina, Jesús, 2009. "Organizational distance and use of collateral for business loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 234-243, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D53 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Financial Markets
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20263256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Official Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emieude.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.