IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/restat/v82y2000i1p127-138.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why do Banks Disappear? The Determinants of U.S. Bank Failures and Acquisitions

Author

Listed:
  • David C. Wheelock
  • Paul W. Wilson

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify the characteristics that make individual U.S. banks more likely to fail or be acquired. We use bank-specific information to estimate competing-risks hazard models with time-varying covariates. We use alternative measures of productive efficiency to proxy management quality, and find that inefficiency increases the risk of failure while reducing the probability of a bank's being acquired. Finally, we show that the closer to insolvency a bank is (as reflected by a low equity-to-assets ratio) the more likely is its acquisition. © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Suggested Citation

  • David C. Wheelock & Paul W. Wilson, 2000. "Why do Banks Disappear? The Determinants of U.S. Bank Failures and Acquisitions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 127-138, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:82:y:2000:i:1:p:127-138
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/003465300558560
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jalal D. Akhavein & Allen N. Berger & David B. Humphrey, "undated". "The Effects of Megamergers on Efficiency and Prices: Evidence from a Bank Profit Function," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1997-09, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised 10 Dec 2019.
    2. Richard S. Barr & Thomas F. Siems, 1994. "Predicting bank failure using DEA to quantify management quality," Financial Industry Studies Working Paper 94-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    3. Wheelock, David C & Wilson, Paul W, 1995. "Explaining Bank Failures: Deposit Insurance, Regulation, and Efficiency," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(4), pages 689-700, November.
    4. Kneip, A & Park, B-U & Simar, L, 1996. "A Note on the Convergence of Nonparametric DEA Efficiency Measures," Papers 9603, Catholique de Louvain - Institut de statistique.
    5. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    6. Meeusen, Wim & van den Broeck, Julien, 1977. "Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(2), pages 435-444, June.
    7. Fare, Rolf & Shawna Grosskopf & Mary Norris & Zhongyang Zhang, 1994. "Productivity Growth, Technical Progress, and Efficiency Change in Industrialized Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 66-83, March.
    8. Allen N. Berger & David B. Humphrey, 1992. "Megamergers in banking and the use of cost efficiency as an antitrust defense," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 203, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    9. Allen N. Berger & David B. Humphrey, 1992. "Measurement and Efficiency Issues in Commercial Banking," NBER Chapters, in: Output Measurement in the Service Sectors, pages 245-300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Dean F. Amel & Stephen A. Rhoades, 1989. "Empirical Evidence on the Motives for Bank Mergers," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 17-27, Jan-Mar.
    11. Kaparakis, Emmanuel I & Miller, Stephen M & Noulas, Athanasios G, 1994. "Short-Run Cost Inefficiency of Commercial Banks: A Flexible Stochastic Frontier Approach," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 26(4), pages 875-893, November.
    12. Oulton,Nicholas & O'Mahony,Mary, 1994. "Productivity and Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521453455.
    13. Lawrence F. Katz & Bruce D. Meyer, 1990. "Unemployment Insurance, Recall Expectations, and Unemployment Outcomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(4), pages 973-1002.
    14. Cornett, Marcia Millon & Tehranian, Hassan, 1992. "Changes in corporate performance associated with bank acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 211-234, April.
    15. Zvi Griliches, 1992. "Output Measurement in the Service Sectors," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril92-1.
    16. Ferrier, Gary D. & Lovell, C. A. Knox, 1990. "Measuring cost efficiency in banking : Econometric and linear programming evidence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1-2), pages 229-245.
    17. Waldman, Donald M., 1982. "A stationary point for the stochastic frontier likelihood," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 275-279, February.
    18. Jondrow, James & Knox Lovell, C. A. & Materov, Ivan S. & Schmidt, Peter, 1982. "On the estimation of technical inefficiency in the stochastic frontier production function model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 233-238, August.
    19. Berger, Allen N. & Hunter, William C. & Timme, Stephen G., 1993. "The efficiency of financial institutions: A review and preview of research past, present and future," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2-3), pages 221-249, April.
    20. Berger, Allen N. & Hanweck, Gerald A. & Humphrey, David B., 1987. "Competitive viability in banking : Scale, scope, and product mix economies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 501-520, December.
    21. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    22. Hannan, Timothy H & Rhoades, Stephen A, 1987. "Acquisition Targets and Motives: The Case of the Banking Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 67-74, February.
    23. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1979. "Measuring the efficiency of decision-making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 339-338, July.
    24. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Resti, Andrea, 1997. "Evaluating the cost-efficiency of the Italian Banking System: What can be learned from the joint application of parametric and non-parametric techniques," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 221-250, February.
    2. Franz R. Hahn, 2005. "Determinants of Bank Profitability in Austria. A Micro-Macro Approach," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 25688, April.
    3. Luis R. Murillo‐Zamorano, 2004. "Economic Efficiency and Frontier Techniques," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 33-77, February.
    4. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2015. "Efficiency of the banking system in Vietnam under financial liberalization," OSF Preprints qsf6d, Center for Open Science.
    5. Fakarudin Kamarudin & Bany Ariffin Amin Nordin & Junaina Muhammad & Mohamad Ali Abdul Hamid, 2014. "Cost, Revenue and Profit Efficiency of Islamic and Conventional Banking Sector: Empirical Evidence from Gulf Cooperative Council Countries," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 15(1), pages 1-24, March.
    6. Pavlos Almanidis & Robin C. Sickles, 2016. "Banking Crises, Early Warning Models, and Efficiency," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Juan Aparicio & C. A. Knox Lovell & Jesus T. Pastor (ed.), Advances in Efficiency and Productivity, chapter 0, pages 331-364, Springer.
    7. Thompson, Russell G. & Brinkmann, Emile J. & Dharmapala, P. S. & Gonzalez-Lima, M. D. & Thrall, Robert M., 1997. "DEA/AR profit ratios and sensitivity of 100 large U.S. banks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 213-229, April.
    8. Fadzlan Sufian & Muzafar Shah Habibullah, 2012. "Developments in the efficiency of the Malaysian banking sector: the impacts of financial disruptions and exchange rate regimes," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 12(1), pages 19-46, January.
    9. Daniel Gropper & Steven Caudill & T. Beard, 1999. "Estimating Multiproduct Cost Functions Over Time Using a Mixture of Normals," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 201-218, June.
    10. Theodor Kohers & Ming‐hsiang Huang & Ninon Kohers, 2000. "Market perception of efficiency in bank holding company mergers: the roles of the DEA and SFA models in capturing merger potential," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(2), pages 101-120, December.
    11. Daraio, Cinzia & Kerstens, Kristiaan & Nepomuceno, Thyago & Sickles, Robin C., 2019. "Empirical Surveys of Frontier Applications: A Meta-Review," Working Papers 19-005, Rice University, Department of Economics.
    12. Berger, Allen N. & Humphrey, David B., 1997. "Efficiency of financial institutions: International survey and directions for future research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 175-212, April.
    13. Hela Kallel & Salah Ben Hamad & Mohamed Triki, 2019. "Modeling the efficiency of Tunisian and Moroccan banks using the SFA approach," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 68(5), pages 879-902, March.
    14. Kabir Hassan, M. & Tufte, David R., 2001. "The X-Efficiency of a Group-Based Lending Institution: The Case of the Grameen Bank," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 1071-1082, June.
    15. Omneya Abdelsalam & Sabur Mollah & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2018. "Political connection and bank in(efficiency)," Working Papers 2018-11, Swansea University, School of Management.
    16. Silva, Thiago Christiano & Tabak, Benjamin Miranda & Cajueiro, Daniel Oliveira & Dias, Marina Villas Boas, 2017. "A comparison of DEA and SFA using micro- and macro-level perspectives: Efficiency of Chinese local banks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 469(C), pages 216-223.
    17. Kohers, Theodor & Huang, Ming-hsiang & Kohers, Ninon, 2000. "Market perception of efficiency in bank holding company mergers: the roles of the DEA and SFA models in capturing merger potential," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 101-120, December.
    18. Dairo Estrada & Poldy Osorio, 2004. "Effects of Financial Capital on Colombian Banking Efficiency," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 22(47), pages 162-201, December.
    19. Ralston, Deborah & Wright, April & Garden, Kaylee, 2001. "Can mergers ensure the survival of credit unions in the third millennium?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(12), pages 2277-2304, December.
    20. Jamal Al-Khasawneh, 2013. "Pairwise X-efficiency combinations of merging banks: analysis of the fifth merger wave," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 1-28, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:82:y:2000:i:1:p:127-138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kelly McDougall (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://direct.mit.edu/journals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.