Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Regulation, the Financial Sector, and Economic Growth -- Banking, Financial Intermediation and Economic Development -- Lessons From the Past -- Banking, Regulation and California's Economic Development -- Notes -- Chapter 2 Regulation and Banking Development in California, 1853-1909 -- Introduction -- California's Regulation of its State-Chartered Banks -- The Enforcement of California's Banking Laws -- The Development of National Banking in California: Slow Growth to 1900 -- The Rapid Growth of National Banking in California in the 1900s -- Regulation and Bank Failures -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Chapter 3 Banking and the Development of California's Economy, 1860-1910 -- Introduction -- Comparisons of Banking Development Over Time and Across States -- The Patterns of Banking and Economic Activity -- Distribution of Banking Across California's Counties -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Chapter 4 A Model of the Banking Firm -- Introduction -- The Model -- Underlying Assumptions -- Demand for the Bank's Funds -- Reserves Against Net Disbursement of Cash -- Cost of Deposits -- Maximizing the Rate of Profit -- The Optimal Asset Portfolio -- Adjusting Loan Demand for Risk -- The Effect of Differences in Market Power -- Competition with Other Banks -- Market Power of Individual Banks -- Market Concentration, Competition and Bank Behavior -- Applying the Model to California's Banks -- Notes -- Chapter 5 Individual Bank Behavior in California, 1878-1908 -- Discussion of Data and Definition of the Variables -- Bank Data -- Market Definitions and Data -- Dependent Variable: The Loan/Asset Ratio -- Independent Variables: Bank Characteristics -- Independent Variables: Market Characteristics