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Identifying the Effects of Bank Failures from a Natural Experiment in Mississippi during the Great Depression

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  • Nicolas L. Ziebarth

Abstract

I examine the causal effect of bank failures during the Great Depression using the quasi-experimental setup of Richardson and Troost (2009). The experiment is based on Mississippi being divided into two Federal Reserve districts, which followed different policies for liquidity provision. This translated into variation in bank failures across the state. Employing a plant-level sample from the Census of Manufactures, I find that banking failures had a negative effect on revenue stemming from a fall in physical output. I find no effect on employment at the plant-level and a large decline at the county-level. (JEL E32, E44, G21, G33, N12, N22, N92)

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  • Nicolas L. Ziebarth, 2013. "Identifying the Effects of Bank Failures from a Natural Experiment in Mississippi during the Great Depression," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 81-101, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:5:y:2013:i:1:p:81-101
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/mac.5.1.81
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    2. Salvador Contreras & Manthos D. Delis & Amit Ghosh & Iftekhar Hasan, 2022. "Bank failures, local business dynamics, and government policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1823-1851, April.
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    4. Bordo, M.D. & Meissner, C.M., 2016. "Fiscal and Financial Crises," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 355-412, Elsevier.
    5. Danisewicz, Piotr & McGowan, Danny & Onali, Enrico & Schaeck, Klaus, 2018. "The real effects of banking supervision: Evidence from enforcement actions," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 86-101.
    6. Bodea, Cristina & Houle, Christian & Kim, Hyunwoo, 2021. "Do financial crises increase income inequality?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    7. Mary Eschelbach Hansen & Nicolas L. Ziebarth, 2017. "Credit Relationships and Business Bankruptcy during the Great Depression," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 228-255, April.
    8. Contreras, Salvador & Ghosh, Amit & Kong, Joon Ho, 2021. "Financial crisis, Bank failures and corporate innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Xiaoyu Gao & Anjie Dong, 2020. "Real estate prices, fiscal revenue and economic growth," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(2), pages 1-7.
    10. Benmelech, Efraim & Frydman, Carola & Papanikolaou, Dimitris, 2019. "Financial frictions and employment during the Great Depression," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(3), pages 541-563.
    11. Chicu, Mark & Ziebarth, Nicolas L., 2013. "Multi-market contact and competition: evidence from the Depression-era portland cement industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 603-611.
    12. Amit Ghosh & Salvador Contreras, 2022. "Local Banking Market Frictions and Youth Crime: Evidence from Bank Failures," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 43-75, February.
    13. Carola Frydman & Eric Hilt & Lily Y. Zhou, 2015. "Economic Effects of Runs on Early "Shadow Banks": Trust Companies and the Impact of the Panic of 1907," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(4), pages 902-940.
    14. Matthew Jaremski & David C. Wheelock, 2015. "Banker Preferences, Interbank Connections, and the Enduring Structure of the Federal Reserve System," Working Papers 2015-11, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    15. Breitenlechner, Max & Mathy, Gabriel P. & Scharler, Johann, 2021. "Decomposing the U.S. Great Depression: How important were loan supply shocks?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    16. Contreras, Salvador & Ghosh, Amit & Hasan, Iftekhar, 2023. "The effect of bank failures on small business loans and income inequality," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    17. James Feigenbaum & James Lee & Filippo Mezzanotti, 2022. "Capital Destruction and Economic Growth: The Effects of Sherman's March, 1850–1920," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 301-342, October.
    18. Pooyan Amir-Ahmadi & Gustavo S. Cortes & Marc D. Weidenmier, 2020. "Regional Monetary Policies and the Great Depression," NBER Working Papers 26695, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Luisa Blanco & Salvador Contreras & Amit Ghosh, 2022. "Impact of Great Recession bank failures on use of financial services among racial/ethnic and income groups," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(4), pages 1574-1598, April.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N22 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N92 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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