Abstract: We examine the effects of over 6,000 M&As involving more than 10,000 banks on small business lending. We are the first to decompose the impact of M&As into static effects associated with a simple melding of the antecedent institutions and dynamic effects associated with post-M&A refocusing of the consolidated institution. We are also the first to estimate the reactions of other local banks to M&As. We find that the static effects that reduce small business lending are mostly offset by the reactions of other banks and, in some cases, also by the refocused efforts of the consolidating institutions themselves.

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