The contribution of the Italian banking system to the Italian economic and social growth

Financial intermediaries, in the current crisis, have become covered with much more responsibility. The latter, increased during the last years, acts as the main feature into the economic and social environment. The role played by the financial intermediaries along the crisis (in its double perspective, financial before and economic afterwards) becomes an interesting key point in order to understand and to study in depth, how they could contribute to the economic growth. In this research, the role played by the banks during the crisis and their contribution to the economic growth, is analysed by these research questions: 1) with respect to the Italian banking system, what proxies could explain the impact of the financial crisis on it, and how the Italian banks (commercial, cooperative and mutual) have stand up to it, analysing how a shock originated at banking system could have an effect on the real economic growth?; 2) ways of capturing the “intangible relation” between banking system and real economy, and how, despite the financial crisis, the Italian banks have contributed to the economic growth and which types of banks have shown a sustainable relation with the Italian economy?