This thesis consists of two chapters that investigate two important issues in banking of the past decade: the effect of banking consolidation on the borrowers and the regulatory capital requirements for banks. The first chapter analyzes the effect of bank mergers on loan prices, and the welfare...

U.S. stocks are more volatile than stocks of similar foreign firms. A firm’s stock return volatility can be higher for reasons that contribute positively (good volatility) or negatively (bad volatility) to shareholder wealth and economic growth. We find that the volatility of U.S. firms is...