We assess the impact of bank deregulation on the distribution of income in the United States. From the 1970s through the 1990s, most states removed restrictions on intrastate branching, which intensified bank competition and improved bank performance. Exploiting the cross-state, cross-time...

The barrier options theory of corporate security valuation is applied to the contingent claims of a regulated bank. The regulator/insurer of a bank owns a down-and-in call option on the bank assets which can be balanced against the expected coverage cost. Raising the regulatory barrier (critical...