The article's authors applied their results to the FBI's national crime figures from the Uniform Crime Reports and found, "…a mean decline in banking competitiveness due to mergers from 1992 to 1995 is associated with approximately 24,300 more property crime offenses over the period 1995 to 2000."
The poorest neighborhoods are found to suffer the greatest increases in crime following bank mergers. The authors maintain that bank mergers should be carefully regulated to prevent economic deterioration of the affected neighborhoods.
This study is published in the April issue of The Journal of Finance. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article please contact journalnews@bos.blackwellpublishing.net
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Mark Garmaise, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Finance at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is available for media questions and interviews.
Tobias J. Moskowitz, Ph.D. is Professor of Finance and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
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