Search Results
Report
The role of bank advisors in mergers and acquisitions
This paper looks at the role of both commercial and investment banks in providing merger advisory services. In this area, unlike some areas of investment banking, commercial banks have always been allowed to compete directly with investment banks. In their dual role as lenders and advisors to firms that are the target or the acquirer in a merger, banks can be viewed as serving a certification function. However, banks acting as both lenders and advisors face a potential conflict of interest that may mitigate or offset any certification effect. Overall, we find evidence supporting the ...
Report
Structural change in the mortgage market and the propensity to refinance
We hypothesize that the intrinsic benefit required to trigger a refinancing has become smaller, due to a combination of technological, regulatory, and structural changes that have made mortgage origination more competitive and more efficient. To test this hypothesis, we estimate an empirical hazard model of loan survival for two subperiods, using a database that allows us to carefully control for homeowners' credit ratings, equity, loan size, and measurable transaction costs. Our findings strongly confirm that credit ratings and home equity have significant effects on refinancing probability. ...
Journal Article
Are U.S. reserve requirements still binding?
Paper for a conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York entitled Financial Innovation and Monetary Transmission
Journal Article
A disaggregate analysis of discount window borrowing
Discount window borrowing is an important source of liquidity for depository institutions. This article estimates the demand for adjustment credit of 240 commercial banks during 1981-90. By focusing on the borrowing behavior of individual banks, the authors are able to clarify some anomalies exhibited by borrowed reserves at the aggregate level.
Report
Do mergers improve the x-efficiency and scale efficiency of U.S. banks?: Evidence from the 1980s
A central issue currently debated among bank analysts and economists is whether mergers enhance the efficiency of surviving banks. This paper investigates the postmerger performance of acquiring banks that participated in a merger during 1980-90. The evidence suggests that acquiring banks failed to improve postmerger X-efficiency. However, we find that acquiring banks experienced moderate gains in profitability and scale efficiency relative to a control sample. The second part of the paper uses regression analysis to identify factors influencing the performance of bank merger survivors. The ...
Discussion Paper
Depositor Discipline of Risk-Taking by U.S. Banks
The recent financial crisis caused the largest rise in the number of bank failures since the unprecedented banking crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s. This post examines how depositors responded to the amplified risks of bank failure over the last three decades. We show that uninsured depositors discipline troubled banks by withdrawing their funds. Focusing on the recent financial crisis, we find that banks experienced an outflow of uninsured time deposits after the near-failure of Bear Stearns and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. This depositor risk sensitivity subsided after the Federal ...