IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/cliomt/v12y2018i1d10.1007_s11698-016-0155-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Private banks in early Michigan, 1837–1884

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Bailey

    (Central Michigan University)

  • Tarique Hossain

    (California State Polytechnic University-Pomona)

  • Gary Pecquet

    (Central Michigan University)

Abstract

Using a comprehensive new data set on private (noncorporate) banks, we examine the business and business environment of private banking and exchange brokering in the state of Michigan from 1837 to the 1880s. The Michigan experience provides an example of the effect of widespread exchange brokers in an economy. We use econometric models to explain the determinants of the numbers of private banks in the state. We find that private banks were substitutes for locally issued state bank currency and were complements with adjacent states’ bank currency. With the demise of heterogeneous currencies, private banks transitioned their core business from exchange brokering to general banking. In both the antebellum and postbellum eras, private banks tended to exist when and where larger incorporated banks did not. Following the collapse of free banking in Michigan in the antebellum years, this was virtually the entire state. During the 1860s and 1870s, corporate banks used private banks as a root source to build on.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Bailey & Tarique Hossain & Gary Pecquet, 2018. "Private banks in early Michigan, 1837–1884," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 12(1), pages 153-180, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:cliomt:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11698-016-0155-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11698-016-0155-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11698-016-0155-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11698-016-0155-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Howard Bodenhorn, 2006. "Bank Chartering and Political Corruption in Antebellum New York. Free Banking as Reform," NBER Chapters, in: Corruption and Reform: Lessons from America's Economic History, pages 231-257, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Bodenhorn, Howard, 1993. "Small-Denomination Banknotes in Antebellum America," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 25(4), pages 812-827, November.
    3. Carter,Susan B. & Gartner,Scott Sigmund & Haines,Michael R. & Olmstead,Alan L. & Sutch,Richard & Wri (ed.), 2006. "The Historical Statistics of the United States 5 Volume Hardback Set," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521817912.
    4. Matthew Jaremski & Peter L. Rousseau, 2013. "Banks, Free Banks, And U.S. Economic Growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1603-1621, April.
    5. Ransom, Roger & Sutch, Richard, 1979. "Credit merchandising in the post-emancipation south: Structure, conduct, and performance," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 64-89, January.
    6. Gorton, Gary, 1999. "Pricing free bank notes," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 33-64, August.
    7. Sylla, Richard, 1976. "Forgotten Men of Money: Private Bankers in Early U.S. History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(1), pages 173-188, March.
    8. Bodenhorn,Howard, 2000. "A History of Banking in Antebellum America," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521662857.
    9. Bodenhorn, Howard, 1997. "Private Banking in Antebellum Virginia: Thomas Branch & Sons of Petersburg," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(4), pages 513-542, January.
    10. Arthur J. Rolnick & Warren E. Weber, 1982. "Free banking, wildcat banking, and shinplasters," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 6(Fall).
    11. Sylla, Richard, 1969. "Federal Policy, Banking Market Structure, and Capital Mobilization in the United States, 1863–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(4), pages 657-686, December.
    12. Matthew Jaremski, 2013. "State Banks and the National Banking Acts: Measuring the Response to Increased Financial Regulation, 1860-1870," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(2-3), pages 379-399, March.
    13. repec:mcb:jmoncb:v:45:y:2013:i::p:379-399 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Sylla, Richard, 1982. "Monetary Innovation in America," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(1), pages 21-30, March.
    15. Gorton, Gary, 1996. "Reputation Formation in Early Bank Note Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(2), pages 346-397, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Howard Bodenhorn, 2016. "Two Centuries of Finance and Growth in the United States, 1790-1980," Working Papers id:11352, eSocialSciences.
    2. Peter L. Rousseau, 2013. "Politics on the road to the U.S. monetary union," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 13-00006, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    3. Shambaugh, Jay C., 2006. "An experiment with multiple currencies: the American monetary system from 1838-60," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 609-645, October.
    4. Howard Bodenhorn & Eugene N. White, 2014. "The Evolution of Bank Boards of Directors in New York, 1840–1950," NBER Chapters, in: Enterprising America: Businesses, Banks, and Credit Markets in Historical Perspective, pages 107-145, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jaremski, Matthew & Rousseau, Peter L., 2018. "The dawn of an ‘age of deposits’ in the United States," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 264-281.
    6. Matthew Jaremski & Peter L. Rousseau, 2013. "Banks, Free Banks, And U.S. Economic Growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1603-1621, April.
    7. Jaremski, Matthew & Mathy, Gabrial, 2017. "Looking Back On the Age of Checking in America, 1800-1960," MPRA Paper 78083, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Matthew S. Jaremski, 2013. "National Banking's Role in U.S. Industrialization, 1850-1900," NBER Working Papers 18789, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Bodenhorn, Howard, 2008. "Free banking and bank entry in nineteenth-century New York," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 175-201, October.
    10. Gary B. Gorton, 2016. "The History and Economics of Safe Assets," NBER Working Papers 22210, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Kris James Mitchener & Matthew Jaremski, 2014. "The Evolution of Bank Supervision: Evidence from U.S. States," NBER Working Papers 20603, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Bodenhorn, Howard, 1999. "An Engine of Growth: Real Bills and Schumpeterian Banking in Antebellum New York," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 278-302, July.
    13. Bodenhorn, Howard, 2007. "Usury ceilings and bank lending behavior: Evidence from nineteenth century New York," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 179-202, April.
    14. Gary B. Gorton, 2020. "Private Money Production without Banks," NBER Working Papers 26663, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Guinnane, Timothy W., 2001. "Delegated Monitors, Large and Small: The Development of Germany's Banking System, 1800-1914," Center Discussion Papers 28447, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    16. Peter L. Rousseau, 2010. "The Market for Bank Stocks and the Rise of Deposit Banking in New York City, 1866-1897," NBER Working Papers 15770, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Gorton, Gary & Metrick, Andrew & Xie, Lei, 2021. "The flight from maturity," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    18. Gerald P. Dwyer & Rik Hafer, 2001. "Bank failures in banking panics: Risky banks or road kill?," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2001-13, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    19. Howard Bodenhorn, 2005. "Usury Ceilings, Relationships and Bank Lending Behavior: Evidence from Nineteenth Century," NBER Working Papers 11734, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Private bank; Exchange broker; Michigan banking; Antebellum banking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N21 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:cliomt:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11698-016-0155-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.