This paper provides the first comprehensive econometric analysis of the causes of bank distress during the Depression …. We assemble bank-level data for virtually all Fed member banks, and combine those data with county-level, state … bank failure. We construct a model of bank survival duration using these fundamental determinants of bank failure as …

quality of bank assets and management. All three types of information were useful for gauging the condition of the bank, and … affected bank behavior, including a publicly observable signal (skipping a dividend payment). Participants in the market for … bank liabilities reacted to this signal in ways that promoted market discipline …

effects of RFC assistance on bank survival. We find that the loan program had no statistically significant effect on the … of increasing the indebtedness of financial institutions and subordinating bank depositors. We find that RFC's purchases … of preferred stock - which did not increase indebtedness or subordinate depositors - increased the chances that a bank …