Does growing commercial-bank reliance on Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) advances increase expected losses to the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF)? Our approach to this question begins by modeling the link between advances and expected losses. We then quantify the effect of advances on default...

Despite the growing concentration of U.S. banking assets in mega-banks, most academic research finds that scale and scope economies are small. I apply the survivor principle to the banking industry between 1984 and 2002 and find that the so-called economies of integration are significant. These...

Does growing commercial-bank reliance on Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) advances increase expected losses to the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF)? Our approach to this question begins by modeling the link between advances and expected losses. We then quantify the effect of advances on default...

A potentially troubling characteristic of the U.S. banking industry is the geographic concentration of many banks’ offices and operations. Historically, banking laws have prevented U.S. banks from branching into other counties and states. A potential adverse consequence of these regulations...

The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s revealed the vulnerability of some depository institutions to changes in interest rates. Since that episode, U.S. bank supervisors have placed more emphasis on monitoring the interest rate risk of commercial banks. Economists at the Board of Governors of...

The cover story examines why small banks aren't usually thrown for a loop when the local economy has a rough ride

With higher overhead costs and lower fee income, small banks are in serious danger of getting lapped by their larger competitors. Can community banks find a way to stay on the track?