To explain persistence of credit card interest rates at relatively high levels, Calem and Mester (AER, 1995) argued that informational barriers create switching costs for high-balance customers. As evidence, using data from the 1989 Survey of Consumer Finances, they showed that these households...

Nationally chartered banks will be allowed to branch across state lines beginning June 1, 1997. Whether they will depends on their assessment of the profitability of such a delivery system for their services, and on their preferences regarding risk and return. We investigate the probable effect...

We empirically examine the hypothesis that access to core deposits permits a bank to make contractual agreements with borrowers, which are infeasible if the bank must pay market rates for its funds. Access to core deposits insulates a bank's costs of funds from exogenous shocks. In turn, the...

We present evidence on the objective function of bank management--that is, are they risk neutral and maximize expected profits, or are they risk averse and trade off profit for risk reduction? We extend the model of Hughes and Mester (1993) to allow a bank's choice of its financial capital level...

For nearly two decades banks in the United States have consolidated in record numbers—in terms of both frequency and the size of the merging institutions. Rhoades (1996) hypothesizes that the main motivations were increased potential for geographic expansion created by changes in state laws...