This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Are small rural banks vulnerable to local economic downturns?

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Andrew P. Meyer
Timothy J. Yeager
Abstract

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 was to leave banks—especially small rural banks—vulnerable to local economic downturns. If geographic concentration of bank offices leaves banks vulnerable to local economic downturns, we should observe a significant correlation between bank performance and the local economy. Looking at Eighth District banks, however, we find little connection between the dispersion of a bank’s offices and its ability to insulate itself from localized economic shocks. County-level economic data are weakly correlated with bank performance. Two policy implications follow from this finding. First, a priori, little justification exists for imposing more stringent regulatory requirements on banks with geographically concentrated operations than on other banks. Second, county-level labor and income data do not appear to be systematically useful in the bank supervision process.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/01/03/0103am.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Article provided by Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in its journal Review.

Volume (Year): (2001)
Issue (Month): Mar ()
Pages: 25-38
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:y:2001:i:mar:p:25-38:n:v.83no.2

Contact details of provider:
Postal: P.O. Box 442, St. Louis, MO 63166
Fax: (314)444-8753
Web page: http://www.stlouisfed.org/
More information through EDIRC

Order Information:
Email:
Web: http://www.stls.frb.org/research/order/pubform.html

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Diane Rosenberger).

Related research
Keywords: Rural areas ; Banks and banking ; Economic conditions - United States;

Other versions of this item:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Liang, Nellie & Rhoades, Stephen A., 1988. "Geographic diversification and risk in banking," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 271-284, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Allen N. Berger & Anthony Saunders & Joseph M. Scalise & Gregory F. Udell, 1998. "The Effects of Bank Mergers and Acquisitions on Small Business Lending," New York University, Leonard N. Stern School Finance Department Working Paper Seires 98-007, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business-.
    Other versions:
  3. Elizabeth S. Laderman & Ronald H. Schmidt & Gary C. Zimmerman, 1991. "Location, branching, and bank portfolio diversification: the case of agricultural lending," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Win, pages 24-38. [Downloadable!]
  4. Mitchell A. Petersen & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2002. "Does Distance Still Matter? The Information Revolution in Small Business Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2533-2570, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Gary C. Zimmerman, 1996. "Factors influencing community bank performance in California," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, pages 26-40. [Downloadable!]
  6. Jith Jayaratne & Philip E. Strahan, 1997. "The benefits of branching deregulation," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Dec, pages 13-29. [Downloadable!]
  7. Allen N. Berger & Anil K. Kashyap & Joseph Scalise, 1995. "The Transformation of the U.S. Banking Industry: What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 96-06, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    Other versions:
  8. Kevin L. Kliesen & R. Alton Gilbert, 1996. "Are some agricultural banks too agricultural?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Jan, pages 23-36. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. William Emmons & R. Gilbert & Timothy Yeager, 2004. "Reducing the Risk at Small Community Banks: Is it Size or Geographic Diversification that Matters?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 259-281, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Mario Quagliariello, . "Banks' Performance over the Business Cycle: A Panel Analysis on Italian Intermediaries," Discussion Papers 04/17, Department of Economics, University of York. [Downloadable!]
  3. Thomas B. King & Daniel A. Nuxoll & Timothy J. Yeager, 2006. "Are the causes of bank distress changing? can researchers keep up?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Jan, pages 57-80. [Downloadable!]
  4. Simona Castellani & Chiara Pederzoli & Costanza Torricelli, 2008. "Indebtedness, macroeconomic conditions and banks’ loan losses: evidence from Italy," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 08014, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Facoltà di Economia "Marco Biagi". [Downloadable!]
  5. Timothy J. Yeager, 2002. "The demise of community banks? local economic shocks aren't to blame," Supervisory Policy Analysis Working Papers 2002-03, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  6. John R. Hall & Thomas B. King & Andrew P. Meyer & Mark D. Vaughan, 2002. "Did FDICIA enhance market discipline on community banks? a look at evidence from the jumbo-CD market," Supervisory Policy Analysis Working Papers 2002-04, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  7. Timothy J. Yeager, 2002. "Community bank performance in the presence of county economic shocks," Supervisory Policy Analysis Working Papers 2002-11, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  8. Fred Furlong & John Krainer, 2007. "Regional economic conditions and community bank performance," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Jul 27. [Downloadable!]
  9. William R. Emmons & R. Alton Gilbert & Timothy J. Yeager, 2002. "Scale economies and geographic diversification as forces driving community bank mergers," Supervisory Policy Analysis Working Papers 2002-02, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  10. William R. Emmons & R. Alton Gilbert & Timothy J. Yeager, 2001. "The importance of scale economies and geographic diversification in community bank mergers," Working Papers 2001-024, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
  11. Mary Daly & John Krainer & Jose A. Lopez, 2003. "Does regional economic performance affect bank health? New analysis of an old question," Working Papers in Applied Economic Theory 2004-01, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. [Downloadable!]
  12. Kevin J. Stiroh, 2002. "Diversification in banking: is noninterest income the answer?," Staff Reports 154, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Kevin Stiroh, 2004. "Do Community Banks Benefit from Diversification?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 135-160, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Frederick Furlong & John Krainer, 2007. "Regional economic conditions and the variability of rates of return in commercial banking," Working Paper Series 2007-21, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. [Downloadable!]
  15. Juri Marcucci & Mario Quagliariello, . "Is Bank Portfolio Riskiness Procyclical? Evidence from Italy using a Vector Autoregression," Discussion Papers 05/09, Department of Economics, University of York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Richards, Timothy J. & Acharya, Ram N. & Kagan, Albert, 2007. "Spatial Competition and Market Power in Banking," 2007 1st Forum, February 15-17, 2007, Innsbruck, Austria 6566, International European Forum on Innovation and System Dynamics in Food Networks. [Downloadable!]
  17. Kris James Mitchener, 2004. "Bank Supervision, Regulation, and Instability During the Great Depression," NBER Working Papers 10475, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? There is a FAQ (frequently asked questions).

This page was last updated on 2009-11-18.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.