Geschäftsmodelle von Landes- und Kantonalbanken im Detailvergleich: eine referenzwert-gestützte Clusteranalyse

This paper contributes to the current discussion about the future of the German “Landesbanken” by analyzing how the Swiss “Kantonalbanken” can serve as strategic model for the former. The analysis consists of three steps: First, the national framework, the main characteristics and the judicial specificities are presented for both types of banks, respectively. Second, -unprecedented in the economic literature-both bank groups’ business models are identitfied with the help of a reference-based cluster algorithm, categorized and documented over the course of time (2000, 2007, 2014). In a last step, the extent to which variation in the business models is correlated with systematic differences in the banks’ performance is examined by constructing an “adjusted cost-income ratio”. Our results show that in the last 15 years, “Kantonalbanken” have been much more engaged in classic deposit-based lending activities than their German “Landesbanken” counterparts which had a focus in investment banking. Although their profitability fell short of the one of the “Landesbanken”, the “Kantonalbanken” have been characterized by greater stability and higher productivity.