Using the bank deregulation in China as an exogenous shock to bank competition, we investigate how it affects local fertility. We show that the deregulation significantly increases city-level birth rates. This effect is more pronounced among cities with more employment, more household savings,...

We study the effect of bank merger deregulation on market structure and wages in the banking industry. We show that state deregulation of bank mergers and acquisitions increased the market share of large, multi-state banks and lowered wages for bank workers by up to 8 percentage points, with...

In this paper, I quantify the extent to which financial constraints limit the scope of activity of small firms, influence their labor decisions, and impact their ultimate survival. Using the U.S. branching deregulation from the 1990s, I document that local markets within deregulated states...