Community bank consolidation and the role of technology investment
研究了2010年代美国社区银行数量减少近三分之一的现象，发现技术投资需求驱动的规模经济是重要原因，技术投资多的社区银行更易成为收购目标，收购后运营效率提升。
Abstract During the 2010s, the number of community banks in the United States declined by almost one‐third. This paper provides evidence that the disappearance of community banks is related to the demand for economies of scale associated with technology investment. This paper documents that community banks with more technology investment are more likely to become acquisition targets. To address endogeneity concerns, this study employs an exact matching approach and an instrumental variable approach. Our study shows that the acquirer banks effectively attain economies of scale, demonstrated by enhanced operational efficiency. A rich battery of robustness checks confirms the results.