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Bank Mergers in Late Nineteenth-Century New England: The Contingent Nature of Structural Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Naomi R. Lamoreaux
Naomi R. Lamoreaux
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of History, Brown University, Providence, RI02912, and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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Abstract

Although New England's unit banking system was declining in profitability during the late nineteenth century, the existing competitive environment prevented large institutions from outperforming their smaller rivals. As a result, there was little change in the structure of the banking system during this period. At the turn of the century, however, a wave of mergers radically transformed the banking sectors of Boston and Providence. Although the greater profitability of the mergers indicates they were a better fit to the economic environment than their smaller predecessors, their creation was only made possible by a special combination of historical circumstances.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , September 1991 , pp. 537 - 557
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1991

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