Economic Review

During the 1980's, many states relaxed laws restricting branching, and most states opened up their borders to entry by out-of-state bank holding companies. This article suggests that both banks and consumers would benefit if laws were further modified to permit bank holding companies to consolidate their interstate subsidiaries into branch networks. While such a change is likely to lead to a smaller number of large banks (although those remaining would operate nationwide), there would probably be little change in the number of small banks serving local markets.