State passage of interstate banking legislation: An analysis of firm, legislative, and economic characteristics

Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia enacted legislation reducing interstate banking restrictions between July 1982 and April 1993. For these 50 banking bills, deregulation increased the average price of bank stocks. Returns vary cross-sectionally by firm characteristics, regulatory features, and economic conditions. Returns are positively related to the characteristics of acquisition targets. Furthermore, returns are positively related to legislative features that increase the bargaining power of potential targets and economic conditions that are likely to encourage bank acquisition. These findings are consistent with the relaxation of geographic restrictions increasing activity in the corporate control market.