This paper studies how structural transformation exacerbates financial crises. Using newly collected data, I document the persistent effect of credit supply shocks on local economies during the Great Depression. Cities with access to an unusually generous branching network were no different from...

This paper identifies how bank branching benefited local economies during the Great Depression. Using archival data and narrative evidence, I show how Bank of America's branch network in 1930s California created an internal capital market to diversify away local liquidity shortfalls, allowing it...

This paper analyzes whether the dramatic reduction in bank branches after the 2008 crisis is affecting income inequality in the Spanish provinces in the post-crisis years (2015–2019). The results show that the density of bank branches has no effect on regional income inequality, and hold for a...