Do
Bank
Mergers
Create
Shareholder
 Value?

 An
Event
Study
Analysis


Varini
Sharma
 


Introduction
to
Econometrics
 
 December
17,
2009
 
 Professor
Gary
Krueger


Macalester
College


I. Introduction
 Since the 1980s, the U.S. banking industry has experienced a large increase in the level of mergers and acquisitions. Between 1980 and 1998, approximately 8,000 bank mergers occurred, involving about $2.4 trillion in acquired assets that can be attributed to deregulation in the1980s and the removal of legal restrictions on intrastate and interstate banking (Rhoades, 2000). One basis for these mergers is the assumption that such consolidations lead to improvements in efficiency and profits amassed through increased market power, economies of scale, reduced earnings volatility, diversification, and other financial and operational synergies. While proponents of bank mergers argue that these gains are substantial, Coase (1937) tells us that tradeoffs exist between economies of scale (size) and ability to manage. In addition to the significant increase in mergers we have witnessed the collapse of countless financial institutions in the past 3 years due to bad lending practices. While the Coase theory applies to firms in general, how well does it apply to financial institutions? Additionally, has the increased size of financial institutions contributed to the financial crisis of 2008? 
 This paper investigates the economic role of bank mergers in creating shareholder value based on the idea that shareholder wealth will increase if the consolidation leads to the aforementioned gains. This paper is divided into seven sections. The second section of my paper provides an academic review of the literature, focusing on econometric theory that tests the gains in shareholder value and corporate synergies after a merger. The third section introduces a conceptual