Changes in the structure of urban banking markets in the West

Laderman, Elizabeth

Journal Article

Changes in the structure of urban banking markets in the West

Abstract: This paper begins with a discussion of the influence of the number of firms and the variance of market shares on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) measure of market concentration. ; The paper then reports the changes in the number of depository institutions (DIs) and in the HHI in the Twelfth District and its 65 individual urban banking markets between 1982 and 1992, attributing these changes to underlying causes. I find that, although an increase in concentration need not accompany a decrease in firms, more than two-thirds of the 53 markets with DI decreases showed concentration increases. This suggests that regulatory review of DI mergers has been and will continue to be important in assuring the competitiveness of banking markets.

Keywords: Banks and banking - West; Banking market; Banking structure;