Branching Deregulation and Merger Optimality

The U.S. banking industry has been characterized by intense merger activity in the absence of economies of scale and scope. We claim that the loosening of geographic constraints on U.S. banks is responsible for this consolidation process, irrespective of value-maximizing motives. We demonstrate this by putting forward a theoretical model of banking competition and studying banks’ strategic responses to geographic deregulation. We show that even in the absence of economies of scale and scope, bank mergers represent an optimal response. Also, we show that the consolidation process is characterized by merger waves and that some equilibrium mergers are not profitable per se -they yield losses- but become profitable as the waves of mergers unfold.Banking Competition, Deregulation, Mergers

Whom to Merge with? A Tale of the Spanish Banking Deregulation Process

We put forward a simple spatial competition model to study banks’ strategic responses to the Spanish asymmetric geographic deregulation. We find that once geographic deregulation process finishes, inter-regional mergers between the savings banks are optimal. We claim that the public good nature of the merging activities together with the incentives provided by the deregulation process are the driving factors behind the equilibrium merger of the savings banks. It seems that the economic crisis will finally force regional politicians to allow inter-regional caja mergers, letting the consequences of the removal of geographic barriers in the 80’s come to a fruition with a delay of thirty years.Banking Competition, Deregulation, Mergers