This paper addresses two questions related to the ongoing consolidation of the US banking industry and its effect on small firm financing. First, are conventional measures of market structure (e.g. geographic market size and deposit concentration) related to bank competition for small firm...

<title>Abstract</title> Women-owned businesses are often thought to face difficulties in applying for and securing bank loans (Schwartz, 1979; Riding and Swift, 1990; Buttner and Rosen, 1992; Fabowale <italic>et al</italic>., 1995; Haines <italic>et al</italic>., 1999; Coleman, 2000). While there may always be individual instances of difficulties with credit...