In the second of two articles, the authors show that the business strategy chosen by a commercial banking company can have a substantial impact on its risk-return profile. Their analysis suggests that a wide variety of business strategies are likely to be financially viable in the future but,...

This article documents not only the actual use of banks, but also the widespread use of alternative financing mechanisms, using data from a survey of households and businesses in a Hispanic neighborhood of Chicago.

“Banks” are regulated by the government. However, because the generic term bank applies to a number of different types of financial institutions that provide different services, different types of regulation are required. This issue has attracted much attention in recent years as...