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From exceptional to normal: changes in the structure of US banking since 1920

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2020

Richard Sylla
Richard Sylla*
Affiliation:
New York University and NBER
*
R. Sylla, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Department of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University, 44 West 4th St, New York, NY10012, USA; email: [email protected]
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Abstract

A century ago the US commercial banking system was exceptional in two ways. It was by good measure the largest commercial banking system of any country. And it was different from the commercial banking systems of other leading countries in having tens of thousands of independent banks with very few branches rather than the more typical pattern of a far smaller number of banks with many branches. Today, a century later, the US system is more normal than exceptional, dominated by a small number of very large banks with extensive branch systems. This article describes the US banking-structure transition from exceptional to normal. It closes with an interesting contrast of US and European banking developments.

Keywords

banking structurefinancial regulationunit vs. branch bankingbank concentration

JEL classification

N14: Europe: 1913– G21: Banks • Depository Institutions • Micro Finance Institutions • Mortgages G28: Government Policy and Regulation N11: U.S. • Canada: Pre-1913
Type
Articles
Information
Financial History Review , Volume 27 , Special Issue 3: Finance, financiers and financial centres: a special issue in honour of Youssef Cassis , December 2020 , pp. 361 - 375
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Association for Banking and Financial History

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