Community Banks' share of lending, assets has fallen by 50 percent since 1994, Harvard study says.

• Position: MARKETING NEWS - Brief article

COMMUNITY BANKS' SHARE OF U.S. BANKING ASSETS AND LENDING MARKETS has fallen from over 40 percent in 1994 to around 20 percent today, according to the paper, "The State and Fate of Community Banking" from the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.

In addition, community banks' share of commercial banking assets declined 6 percent after the financial crisis of 2008 and has declined at an even larger rate after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, the report states.

"Particularly troubling is community banks' declining market share in several key lending markets, declining in small-business lending volume and the disproportionate losses being realized by particularly small community banks," notes the report.

While the report says that bank consolidation...