Since the implementation of the Treaty of Rome in 1958, the Common Market of six European states has grown to the European Union of twenty-five states as of May 2004. From the outset, the integration of these states into a single economic system has made more apparent the differences in levels of economic development among and within the member states. The original members of the Common Market were aware of these regional differences in 1958 and created the European Investment Bank as part of the Treaty of Rome to provide investment funds to reduce the development gap among the member states. This thesis assesses the extent to which the European Investment Bank has contributed to closing this gap. An analysis of its lending to the fifteen member countries of the European Union between 1995 and 2001 establishes that the economic development gap has not been reduced and that the lending policies of the EIB have not significantly contributed to solving differences in levels of development among these member states. Examining the GDP of the member nations during this time period reveals that the EIB has been unable to spur economic growth and close the development gap. Particular attention is paid to those member states who received the greatest percentage of EIB lending.

Après avoir montré les particularités de la vulnérabilité bancaire, cette thèse examine empiriquement la vulnérabilité des banques européennes et canadiennes aux chocs macroéconomiques ainsi que l'effet de la diversification sur cette vulnérabilité. A partir des données individuelles consolidées portant sur les banques européennes au cours de la période 1992 à 2004, nous montrons que les banques européennes sont sensibles à la variation des taux courts, à la déformation de la courbe des taux d'intérêt et à une modification de la conjoncture économique. Ensuite, la diversification des activités permet d'accroître la rentabilité des banques européennes tout en réduisant leur probabilité de défaillance. En revanche, la diversification géographique accroît à la fois la rentabilité et le risque de défaillance des banques. Enfin, les restrictions réglementaires sur l'activité bancaire nuisent à la performance des grandes banques européennes. Une étude similaire est menée sur les six grandes banques canadiennes sur la période allant de 1996 à 2006. Les résultats obtenus révèlent que les six grandes banques canadiennes sont sensibles au risque de taux d'intérêt de court terme et à une baisse de l'activité économique. De plus, nos résultats suggèrent qu'en dépit de l'impact négatif des revenus autres que d'intérêt sur les rentabilités bancaires, les six banques canadiennes peuvent exploiter des économies d'échelle et d'envergure en augmentant leur taille, ce qui leur permettrait de résister aux chocs macroéconomiques. La dispersion géographique des prêts accroît leur risque de défaillance tandis que les restrictions réglementaires sur l'activité bancaire contribuent à réduire ce risque. L'ensemble de nos résultats confirment l'idée selon laquelle la diversification permet aux banques de résister aux chocs macroéconomiques. Nos conclusions plaident en faveur du modèle de banque universelle. / After showing the particularity of bank vulnerability, this thesis empirically examines the vulnerability of European and Canadian banks to macroeconomies shocks and the effect of diversification on this vulnerability. Using a broad data set of individual consolidated data of European banks over the period 1992-2004, we show that European banks are sensitive to changes in short term interest rates, the yield curve of interest rates and a change in economie conditions. Then, diversification activities can increase the profitability of European banks, while reducing their probability of failure. However, geographie diversification increases both the profitability and risk of failure of banks. Finally, regulatory restrictions on banking activities affect the performance of large European banks. A similar study is conducted on the six larges! Canadian banks over the period from 1996 to 2006. The results obtained show that the six larges! Canadian banks are sensitive to interest rate risk and to the decline in economie activity. Furthermore, our findings suggest that despite the negative impact of non interest income on bank profitability, the six Canadian banks can exploit economies of scale and scope by increasing their size, enabling them to withstand macroeconomies shocks. Geographical dispersion of loans increases their risk of failure while regulatory restrictions on banking activities contribute to reducing this risk. Ali our results support the view that diversification activities allow banks to withstand macroeconomies shocks. Our findings argue in favor of universal banking model.