Honors Theses
Date of Award
5-9-2026
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Business Administration
First Advisor
Bonnie Van Ness
Second Advisor
M. Mark Walker
Third Advisor
Brett Cantrell
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This thesis examines the effects of bank consolidation on small business lending at the county level in Mississippi. Throughout the last few decades, there have been many mergers and acquisitions within the U.S. banking industry. These mergers and acquisitions have caused concerns over access to credit by small businesses, especially in rural and under-served markets. To analyze these issues, this study constructs a county-year panel database that combines bank merger data provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with small business lending data from the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) disclosures. Using a difference-in-differences framework, this paper analyzes how exposure to bank mergers affects the volume of small business lending across counties over time. The results provide limited evidence that bank consolidation has a significant effect on local credit availability. Across multiple specifications, the estimated effects are generally small and statistically insignificant, with some models indicating weak positive associations between merger exposure and lending activity. These findings contribute additional data about the role of financial intermediation and local credit markets as well as provide additional empirical support to the general literature on these topics through evidence from a state-level analysis. The results suggest that the effects of consolidation may be more nuanced and context-dependent than commonly assumed. In addition, there are possible offsets within local credit markets that could mitigate some of those negative impacts. This has important implications for policymakers and regulatory agencies seeking to maintain or enhance access to credit in areas impacted by continuing consolidation of the U.S. banking industry.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Matthew R., "The Effects of Bank Consolidation on Small Business Lending in Mississippi" (2026). Honors Theses. 3504.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3504
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