Consolidation among banking institutions has substantially changed the structure of the banking industry. Between 1975 and 1997, the number of commercial banks and savings associations declined more than 40 percent. Over the same broad period, the market for home mortgage lending has also...

Data now being collected under the Community Reinvestment Act can be used to examine several issues related to analyses of the competitive effects of proposed bank mergers and bank holding company acquisitions. This article looks at two of those issues: whether locally based commercial banks and...

Several trends in the financial industry over the past decade and a half have potentially threatened the competitiveness of small banks. Among these developments are the numerous mergers that increased the size and scope of large banks and the increased competition from mutual funds and other...