An examination of whether deregulation of the financial services industry has led to a disproportionate number of office closings in poor and minority neighborhoods.

With the elimination of state laws against branching, banks can now compete across states. They are no longer limited to competing in local markets, defined by the Federal Reserve as metropolitan statistical areas or small groups of rural counties. Accordingly, a "local or state?" debate over...

An investigation of the probability of de novo branch entry into rural banking markets in Ohio and Pennsylvania to determine whether potential competition is an effective disciplinary force in bank-market expansion.

Until this year, Citigroup was the only $1 trillion banking organization in the U.S. Now, there are two more—Bank of America has merged with FleetBoston, and J.P. Morgan Chase is about to complete its merger with Bank One. These megamergers are notable not only for their size but also for the...

A main public policy concern regarding the massive consolidation of the banking industry between 1984 and 2003 is the consolidation's potential effect on competition in local banking markets. Examining this period for the Twelfth Federal Reserve District, I find, on the whole, moderate increases...