Failure to allow for risk will lead to an overstatement of bank output that will distort productivity measures. It is therefore important to consider banks’ risk when studying their efficiency or productivity and I am pleased to see that several papers on the conference programme address these issues.
Overall, the Eurosystem’s assessment is that further integration of mortgage markets is desirable because it is likely to bring about a more uniform transmission of monetary impulses and a more stable financial system as a result of improved risk diversification [see slide 21].