The formation and cross-border connectivity of bank branch networks across the Canadian provinces: regional internationalization via interbank networks and foreign trade (1879–1900)

Abstract

This study advances a new approach to investigating the resilience of regional banking systems by reconstructing the co-evolving branch and interbank networks in post-Confederation Canada (1879–1900). By digitizing annual banking registers, this study employed a microgeographic approach to constructing a novel longitudinal dataset on city locations and correspondent arrangements of individual branches of Canadian banks. This study uncovered and visualized the divergent growth trajectories of branch and interbank networks across the Canadian provinces, applying network analysis to analyse their structural properties at the city-bank level. Survival analysis revealed significantly different volatility levels in the branch networks of chartered and private banks induced by the recurrent economic downturns and regulatory changes, as measured with their new venturing and survival rates. Mapping the interbank networks at the branch-city level revealed a multi-tier structure of the correspondent system and contributed novel insights into the regional internationalization via cross-border interbank arrangements and foreign trade flows. With the new branch-level evidence, this study addresses a major limitation in the extant literature on banking history in Canada, which, to date, was based on fragmented evidence on banks’ branch establishments and interbank networks. This paper offers implications for future research on international banking history, as well as the financial integration of regions and their cross-border connectivity via interbank networks.