This paper examines the key forces behind deregulation in order to assess the relative importance of alternative theories of regulatory entry and exit. We focus on bank branching deregulation across the states which began a quarter century ago and cumulated in federal deregulation in 1994. The...

[...]Our analysis suggests that much of the efficiencyimprovement brought about by branching was attributable to a selection process whereby better performing banksexpanded at the expense of poorer performers. It appears thatthe branching restrictions acted as a ceiling on the size...