CBRC 2024 Call for Papers

The call for papers for the 2024 Community Banking Research Conference is now open through May 17. This year marks the 12th year of the conference, which is sponsored by the Federal Reserve, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). The goal of the conference is to bring together leading academics, community bank executives, policymakers, and senior leadership from the Fed, state bank regulatory agencies, and the FDIC.  

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will host the in-person conference on Oct. 2-3, 2024.

Each paper selected for the conference will be considered for the John W. Ryan Award, which recognizes the paper that makes the most significant contribution to banking research. The conference committee is interested in research that explores all topics related to community banking, including, but not limited to the topics below.

The role of community banks in the U.S. financial system

  • the provision of financial services to households, small businesses, and small farms
  • impact of community banks on local/state economic activity
  • community banks’ response to recent shocks and the associated policy responses (the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 regional banking turmoil, etc.)

Challenges and opportunities faced by community banks

  • competition from large banks, credit unions, and nonbanks, including financial technology firms
  • funding and liquidity issues, including FHLB advances and central bank lending facilities
  • collaborations/partnerships with financial technology and crypto firms
  • payments issues, including the effects of CBDC, stablecoins, and new payment technologies and trends
  • responding to climate-related financial risks
  • the effects of rapid technological advances in banking
  • ·operational risks

Advantages and disadvantages of the community bank business model

  • bank consolidation
  • noninterest/fee income
  • benefits of local knowledge and strong relationships
  • costs of operating at a small scale

The effects of government policy on community banks

  • quantifying regulatory and compliance costs
  • intended and unintended effects of regulatory requirements
  • antitrust policy and community banks

Paper Submission Procedure:

Submissions should be transmitted using the following link. If you have any questions or need assistance with the submission link, please email conference@communitybanking.org. The deadline to submit a paper or detailed abstract is by the end of day on Friday, May 17, 2024. There is no paper submission fee. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by Friday, July 12, 2024.