Industry Consolidation and Network Evolution in U.S. Global Banking, 1986-2004

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relations among bank mergers, changes in boards and their networks, and changes in the global footprint of merging banks. We examine all mergers involving U.S. banks with foreign branches between 1986 and 2004. We find that while the largest banks have become even larger through mergers, their boards have stayed roughly the same size with the same pattern of connections, leaving banks relatively less central in the intercorporate network. And while global banks previously had more globally-oriented boards, this is no longer the case, as the link between board networks and strategy has become more tenuous. Because global banks were particularly prone to merging, the average commercial bank in the U.S. is now far more domestically-oriented than firms in most other industries. American banks have thus become more domestic at the same time that the rest of American industry has grown much more global.

Keywords: networks, banking, interlocks, industry consolidation, globalization

JEL Classification: G21, G34