Outlines the US development of the “too‐big‐to‐fail” (TBTF) doctrine following the collapse of the Continental Illinois Bank, reviews relevant research and explores the impact on the efficiency of the banking system. Uses 1983‐1985 call report data, explains the methodology and...

This paper suggests a link between bank operating efficiency and federal supervisor. Since supervisory priorities can vary by the context in which the supervisor was conceived, resulting differences in supervisory policies and procedures may underlay differences in the operating efficiency of...