A german model? KfW, field dynamics, and the europeanization of “promotional” banking

Abstract

This chapter examines the evolution of Germany's Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) within the EU. Presenting KfW as a key pillar of the German economic model that depends on export-led growth, the chapter traces the imprint that Europe's largest NDB has left on the European field. Beginning in the 1990s, when the bank counseled and funded development banks in 14 transition countries in CEE countries, KfW became the first incumbent of the emerging field. Adapting itself to the incentives and constraints stemming from European integration during the 2000s, it continues to shape the field today with both the assertiveness of its financial firepower and business model, and the rationale of the reluctant but embedded hegemon that Germany is in the European Union. © Oxford University Press 2021.