Recent theory papers by Diamond and Rajan (2000, 2001) and others suggest that banks with higher capital ratios may create less liquidity because capital diminishes financial fragility and/or “crowds out” deposits. Other contributions suggest the opposite outcome: banks with higher capital...

Using a sample for 1972-2002 with over 8,000 bank entries into local markets, we find a market share advantage for earlier entrants. In particular, the earlier a bank enters, the larger is its market share relative to other banks, controlling for firm, market and time effects, with a market...