Land and Credit: A Study of the Political Economy of Banking in the United States in the Early 20th Century

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rajan, Raghuram G.; Ramcharan, Rodney
• 署名单位: University of Chicago; International Monetary Fund
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1082
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2011.01694.x
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 1895-1931
• 关键词: financial development; interest-rates; institutions; MARKET; INEQUALITY; EVOLUTION; GROWTH; Mexico; RISK

摘要

We find that, in the early 20th century, counties in the United States where the agricultural elite had disproportionately large land holdings had significantly fewer banks per capita, even correcting for state-level effects. Moreover, credit appears to have been costlier, and access to it more limited, in these counties. The evidence suggests that elites may restrict financial development in order to limit access to finance, and they may be able to do so even in countries with well-developed political institutions.