The size distribution of US banks and credit unions

Goodard, J., Liu, H., McKillop, D. and Wilson, J.O.S. (2014) The size distribution of US banks and credit unions. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 21(1), (doi: 10.1080/13571516.2013.835970)

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Abstract

This study examines the firm size distribution of US banks and credit unions. A truncated lognormal distribution describes the size distribution, measured using assets data, of a large population of small, community-based commercial banks. The size distribution of a smaller but increasingly dominant cohort of large banks, which operate a high-volume low-cost retail banking model, exhibits power-law behaviour. There is a progressive increase in skewness over time, and Zipf’s Law is rejected as a descriptor of the size distribution in the upper tail. By contrast, the asset size distribution of the population of credit unions conforms closely to the lognormal distribution.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Liu, Professor Frank
Authors: Goodard, J., Liu, H., McKillop, D., and Wilson, J.O.S.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Accounting and Finance
Journal Name:International Journal of the Economics of Business
ISSN:1357-1516
ISSN (Online):1466-1829

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