Until the middle of the 1970s, regulations constrained banks' ability to enter new markets. Over the subsequent 25 years, states gradually lifted these restrictions. This paper tests whether rents fostered by regulation were shared with labor, and whether firms were discriminating by sharing...

The literature is divided on the expected effects of increased competition and consolidation in the financial sector on the supply of credit to relationship borrowers. This paper tests whether policy changes fostering competition and consolidation in U.S. banking helped or harmed entrepreneurs....

In 1996, Congress passed the Interstate Banking andBranching Efficiency Act, which allowed banks to branch across state lines andto purchase banks in any state.This act contributed to an increase inexpansion-seeking banks.The focus here is on the ways in which thesestructural changes in banking...

The literature is divided on the expected effects of increased competition and consolidation in the financial sector on the supply of credit to relationship borrowers. This paper tests whether policy changes fostering competition and consolidation in U.S. banking helped or harmed entrepreneurs....

Recent papers have argued that both competition and consolidation may reduce small- and new-business lending; competition by weakening incentives to collect private information, and consolidation by destroying existing relationships and marginalizing small banks. This paper uses state-level...