tailieunhanh - THE EFFECTS OF MEGAMERGERS ON EFFICIENCY AND PRICES: EVIDENCE FROM A BANK PROFIT FUNCTION

Access to microfinance services can end the marginalization of the poor and include them in mainstream society, encourage responsibility and promote economic activity. Moreover, access to financial services has a particularly strong catalytic effect when these services are targeted toward women. Thanks to their own efforts and the availability of financial services geared to their needs, it is estimated that by 2007, 100 million of the world’s poorest families were able to improve their lives. 2 And there are the less tangible but no less revolutionary personal gains arising from microfinance: increased self- confidence, pride, respect and independence, as well as reduced. | THE EFFECTS OF MEGAMERGERS ON EFFICIENCY AND PRICES EVIDENCE FROM A BANK PROFIT FUNCTION Jalal D. Akhavein Department of Economics New York University New York NY 10012 and Wharton Financial Institutions Center University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA 19104 Allen N. Berger Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System DC and Wharton Financial Institutions Center University of PA David B. Humphrey F. w. Smith Eminent Scholar in Banking Department of Finance Florida State University Tallahassee FL 32306 Forthcoming Review of Industrial Organization Vol. 12 1997 The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Board of Governors or its staff. The authors thank Anders Christensen for very useful discussant s comments Bob DeYoung Tim Hannan Steve Pilloff Steve Rhoades and the participants in the Nordic Banking Research Seminar for helpful suggestions and Joe Scalise for outstanding research Please address Allen Mail Stop Federal Reserve and C Washington DC 20551 call 202-452-2903 fax 202-452-5295 or -3819 or e-mail mlanb00@. THE EFFECTS OF MEGAMERGERS ON EFFICIENCY AND PRICES EVIDENCE FROM A BANK PROFIT FUNCTION ABSTRACT This paper examines the efficiency and price effects of mergers by applying a frontier profit function to data on bank megamergers We find that merged banks experience a statistically significant 16 percentage point average increase in profit efficiency rank relative to other large banks. Most of the improvement is from increasing including a shift in outputs from securities to a higher-valued Improvements were for the banks with the lowest efficiencies prior to who therefore had the greatest capacity for By the effects on profits from merger-related changes in prices were found to be very JEL Classification Codes Lil L41 L89 G21 G28 Keywords Bank Merger Efficiency Profit Price Antitrust THE EFFECTS OF MEGAMERGERS ON EFFICIENCY AND PRICES EVIDENCE FROM A BANK PROFIT FUNCTION I. Introduction The recent waves of large mergers and .