Bank consolidation is a global phenomenon. It may enhance the value of firms in the industry if, for example, it is driven by scale and scope economies, but skeptics often accuse bankers of sacrificing value to build empires. Using data on bank holding companies in the U.S., we find strong...

"We hypothesize that banks become better able to manage acquisitions, and investors become better able to value those acquisitions, as these parties "learn-by-observing" information that spills-over from previous bank M&As. We find evidence consistent with these hypotheses for 216 M&As of large,...