The volume is the first in the series "Credito cooperativo. Innovation, identity, tradition", created within the Cooperative Credit Research Centre of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Established in March 2022, the Centre aims to promote and carry out scientific activities by enhancing the technical-identity character of cooperative credit in a multidisciplinary perspective and exploring management, legal and governance issues. This volume offers an empirical analysis of two profiles that affect Italian cooperative credit banks in the light of regulatory developments and the ongoing digital transformation. On the one hand, cooperative credit has been affected by a reform that has changed its organizational structure. On the other hand, the Italian banking context is experiencing a significant reduction in the branch network accompanied by a growing digitization of banking processes and customer products and services. Two empirical works are collected in the volume in order to investigate this particular evolving context, examining its implications in terms of operational efficiency of banking intermediaries and financial support to companies. Firstly, it examines the impact on operational efficiency of the change in organisational structures following the reform that has affected the sector. Secondly, it investigates the value of proximity, as a natural prerequisite for relationship credit, estimating its benefits in terms of support for the real economy, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
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