Financial hierarchy and banking strategies: a regional analysis for the Brazilian case

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether Brazil’s financial system has a differentiated strategy in space. The analysis is based on the theory of liquidity preference, regionally differentiated. In addition, it assumes that the banking strategies are associated with centrality, as defined in Christäller’s central place theory. The analysis used indicators of 2, 924 cities grouped according to the type of financial services they provide. In addition, the paper presents an estimation using a dynamic panel data econometric model for the period 2000–08, in order to test if the banking strategies are related to the centrality of the cities.