Roger M. Shelor

Bank shareholder wealth effects of California's proposition 103

Proposition 103, approved by California voters on November 8, 1988, allows California state-chartered banks to become vendors of life, health, and property-liability insurance products. It is hypothesized that such a regulatory realignment should have resulted in a wealth increase for California state-chartered banks. An examination of the market response among these banks indicates a statistically significant positive stock price response on the dates of passage of Proposition 103 and a subsequent Supreme Court ruling upholding its constitutionality.