The Effects of Bank Mergers and Acquisitions on Small Business Lending

Abstract:     
This paper examines the effects of over 6,000 recent U.S. bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on small business lending. It is the first to decompose the impact of M&As into static effects from simply combining the institutions into a pro forma larger organization, and dynamic effects associated with post-M&A refocusing of the consolidated institution. It is also the first to estimate the external effect -- the dynamic reactions of other local banks. It is found that the static effects of M&As tend to reduce small business lending, but are mostly offset by the reactions of other banks, and in some cases also by refocusing efforts of the consolidating institutions themselves.

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Accepted Paper Series