Projection pursuit for bank data

Projection pursuit for bank data.The world, continental and national crises faced by the financial system since 2008 have been addressed by both national and international authorities by favoring financial stability with respect to economic efficiency. This led to a more concentrated banking system. However, it is still a matter of debate whether more concentrated markets are also more stable markets. We use projection pursuit to investigate the structure of the Italian banking system, with special emphasis on the connections between bank performance and capital requirements. Our data include the balance sheet data collected from a large sample of Italian banks between the year 2008 and year 2021.