During the Progressive Era (1900–29), economic growth was rapid but volatile. Boom and busts witnessed the formation and failure of tens of thousands of firms and thousands of banks. This essay uses new data and methods to identify causal links between failures of banks and bankruptcies of firms. Our analysis indicates that bank failures triggered bankruptcies of firms that depended upon banks for ongoing access to commercial credit. Firms that did not depend upon banks for credit did not fail in appreciably larger numbers after banks failed.

中文翻译：

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银行倒闭和经济活动：进步时代的证据


在进步时代（1900-29），经济增长迅速但不稳定。繁荣和萧条见证了数以万计的公司和数千家银行的成立和失败。本文使用新的数据和方法来确定银行倒闭和公司破产之间的因果关系。我们的分析表明，银行倒闭引发了依赖银行持续获得商业信贷的公司破产。银行倒闭后，不依赖银行信贷的企业倒闭数量并没有明显增加。